GDECE101 Early Childhood Care and Education Assignment 2nd Solution

GDECE101

Contents

Introduction: …………………………………………………………………………………………2

Contemporary Approaches to ECE and Inclusivity:………………………………..3

Comparison with Historical Practices:……………………………………………………3

Specific Examples of Practice:………………………………………………………………..4

Critical reflection:………………………………………………………………………………….5

Conclusion:……………………………………………………………………………………………7

References:……………………………………………………………………………………………8

Introduction:

This paper aims at presenting various strategies that can be used in the ever evolving field of Early Childhood Education (ECE). The National Quality Framework (NQF) and the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) talk about partnering with families/caregivers and the community. Thus, the present paper aims to examine and assess three current models of preschool education and how they ensure inclusiveness. The historical practices will be compared in order to give an overview of the topic, which will shed light on the evolutionary process of early education for inclusion and success. Issues related to the historical development of early childhood education, understanding of curriculum, and approaches to teaching are explored, which gives an idea of the field’s stunted growth.

Contemporary Approaches to ECE and Inclusivity

Approach 1: Socio-Constructivist Pedagogy 

 Socio-constructivist learning which can be attributed to the principles of Lev Vygotsky is a type of learning that focuses on the environment in which the child is learning. As per this view, children’s families and the communities that they belong to have significant influence on them as they grow and learn (Sorzio & Campbell-Barr, 2019). The theoretical background is to state that knowledge is created through the process of communication with other individuals. The three principles are collaboration, scaffolding, and the ZPD. 

Reggio Emilia Approach. 

 The Reggio Emilia Approach which was developed in the Italian town of Reggio Emilia believes that children are infinitely capable, naturally inquisitive and competent learners (Smith, 2022). This method explains the environment as the third teacher and stresses on the linkages between schools, families and communities. The present theoretical framework comes from social constructivism and is grounded in The Hundred Languages of Children. 

 Culturally Responsive Pedagogy. 

 The understanding of culturally responsive pedagogy is the recognition of the fact that children and their families come from different cultures. It focuses on creating the classroom environment that will respect the students’ cultural backgrounds through critical pedagogy and multiculturalism (Ragoonaden & Mueller, 2017). These are elements such as cultural proficiency, partnership, and the consideration of multiple perspectives within the curriculum.

Comparison with Historical Practices

Socio-Constructivist Pedagogy: Moving from Self to Society. 

 The historical epoch under consideration was based on individualistic and behaviourist approaches, therefore focusing on memorization and exams (Mhlongo, Dlamini, & Khoza, 2017). However, socio-constructivist education that will be discussed in this work approaches learning as a social process and focuses on collaboration. The modern approach takes into account the social aspect of cognition, while the previous model was focused on the individual’s ability. 

 Reggio Emilia Approach: Transition from Teacher as the Central Figure to the Child as the nucleus of learning. 

 In the traditional early childhood education programs, the use of predetermined curriculum and planned courses were the main features of the program; such programs were teacher directed (Manera, 2022). The Reggio Emilia Approach for instance, which is child centred, poses a big threat to this view. Traditionally, children were considered as learners who passively receive information; however, Reggio Emilia Approach considers children as capable learners who can communicate through multiple ‘hundreds of languages’ including body, music, and drawing. 

 Culturally Responsive Pedagogy: Erweiterung von Perspektiven jenseit der Assimilation 

 In regard to early childhood education, the practices were assimilative in nature whereby children were required to conform to certain cultural standards (Kumi-Yeboah & Amponsah, 2023). On the other hand, the culturally responsive instructional strategies embrace and accommodate the cultural diversities. Although current approaches to teaching and learning recognize that cultural diversity is beneficial to all the involved stakeholders, the previous approaches may have failed to capture the importance of culture in learning.

Specific Examples of Practice

Socio-Constructivist Pedagogy: Learning by Collaboration and ZPD in Practice 

 In the context of socio-constructivist education, collaborative learning is one of the specific practices. The teachers come up with activities that encourage the pupils to collaborate, share information, and solve issues as a team (Gist, Jackson, Nightingale-Lee, & Allen, 2019). For instance, through playing with the children they can engage in conversations, plan and also construct models of a small town. This approach is in concurrence with the ZPD because the children with the help of teachers are encouraged to achieve their potential. 

 Reggio Emilia Approach: The Job of Documentation as well as Atelierista 

 Documentation is considered as one of the strategies that are used in the Reggio Emilia Approach so as to document the learning processes of the children. Observations and recordings of children’s learning process, their drawings, and activities are made by teachers (Gil-Jaurena, Domínguez Figaredo, Theeraroungchaisri, & Yamada, 2018). It is also a record, a reflection, and a planning tool at the same time. Also, the position of an Atelierista, or an artist, is significant. In the context of children, the Atelierista helps develop creativity, introduces children to various creative activities, and underlines the importance of the variety of the ‘languages’. 

 Culturally Responsive Pedagogy: Cultural Lessons in the Classroom: Ideas for Teaching. 

 Culturally responsive education include; having a curriculum that encompasses various cultures. An example of the specific strategy is the use of stories, traditions, and celebrations of various cultural practices in the daily routine (Foerch & Iuspa, 2016). For example, in a storytelling lesson, one can ask students to share tales from their culture and the teacher may share ethnic tales. This is particularly useful since it does not only promote tolerance of different cultures but also assists all children to develop the feeling of being accepted.

Critical reflection 

Thinking about the investigation of contemporary approaches to early childhood education (ECE) and their job in encouraging inclusivity, I find the complex harmony among theory and practice both edifying and testing. The socio-constructivist pedagogy, motivated by Vygotsky, highlights the significance of social collaborations in learning (Tessier & Mithra, 2019). The ideas of cooperative getting the hang of, scaffolding, and the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) give a hearty system to advancing inclusivity through local area and friend collaborations. This being the case, the practical application of these standards is indeed quite challenging. This ensures that each child benefits equally from cooperative learning and this may call for a deep analysis of each child’s background and needs a task that might be tiresome to teachers especially in diverse classrooms (Haslip & Gullo, 2018). 

 The Reggio Emilia Approach which is child centered and focuses on the environment as the “third teacher” contrasts sharply with the conventional teacher directed strategies. This means that its solidarity relates to understanding children’s potential and children’s potential to share themselves in various forms (Essa & Burnham, 2019). The act of documentation and the position of the Atelierista increase the potential for development by clearly defining the learning process and inspiring creativity. Nevertheless, implementing this model requires a lot of resources and time for teachers to transform from traditional teachers to facilitators. 

 Furthermore, it might be necessary for the Reggio Emilia Approach to make some alterations in order to address the various social contexts it may be used in so as to meet the required standards (Bakken et al., 2017). The focus of socially responsive pedagogy on the realization and appreciation of the social contexts of children is crucial in modern multicultural societies. To create effective homerooms it is necessary to include social topics into the educational program and develop equal participation and social competence. In any case, actual social justice cannot be achieved by merely paying attention to the content; it is a constant and sincere commitment to respecting the students’ societal selves (Su & Yang, 2022). 

 Thus, the instructors should engage in a constant self-assessment and updating to avoid hypocrisy and genuinely adopt social diversity in teaching practices. Transition from the culture of individualism and behaviouralism to socio-constructivism and social justice is therefore a great leap forward. Nevertheless, this progress also raises questions as to how these digital processes are really and fairly implemented (Bredekamp & Joseph, 2023). This reflection has elaborated on how I might understand the aspects of creating quality ECE settings and the generic role of teachers in this phase. Some of the aspects that need to be well embraced, in order to ensure effectiveness of these approaches include, professional development, collaboration with families and networks, and a commitment towards inclusion. This paper thus stresses on the need for effort and dedication in order to meet the goal of quality early childhood education.

Conclusion 

In conclusion, new opportunities for inclusive practices are presented by contemporary ECE methodologies. These methods—which range from socio constructivist collaboration to Reggio Emilia’s child-centered creativity and culturally aware instruction—improve learning settings. Their capacity to provide diverse, cooperative, and culturally rich learning experiences underscores their significance in shaping the direction of early childhood education, notwithstanding their limitations.

References 

Bakken, L., Brown, N., & Downing, B. (2017). Early childhood education: The long-term benefits. Journal of research in Childhood Education, 31(2), 255-269. https://www.academia.edu/download/84357618/28._Early_Childhood_Education_in_the_Perspective_of_the_Koran.pdf 

Bredekamp, S., & Joseph, G. E. (2023). Effective practices in early childhood education: Building a foundation. Pearson. One Lake Street, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED633575 

Essa, E. L., & Burnham, M. M. (2019). Introduction to early childhood education. Sage Publications. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=FBd7DwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=early+childhood+education&ots=rgtGlqCwtI&sig=xidaMIGZtDpvBerryfqNBVGDAFY 

Foerch, D. F., & Iuspa, F. (2016). The internationalization of the Reggio Emilia philosophy. Contrapontos, 16(2), 321-350. http://educa.fcc.org.br/pdf/ctp/v16n2/1984-7114-ctp-16-02-00321.pdf 

Gil-Jaurena, I., Domínguez Figaredo, D., Theeraroungchaisri, A., & Yamada, T. (2018, June). ‘EdX Insights’ Metrics from a Socio-Constructivist Pedagogical Perspective. In EDEN 2018 Annual Conference: Exploring the micro, meso and macro—Navigating between dimensions in the digital learning landscape (pp. 53-60). https://www.eden-online.org/proc-2485/index.php/PROC/article/download/1595/1303 

Gist, C., Jackson, I., Nightingale-Lee, B., & Allen, K. (2019). Culturally responsive pedagogy in teacher education. In Oxford research encyclopedia of education. https://www.academia.edu/download/60441873/CRP_in_Teacher_Ed20190830-77463-1o8u4vw.pdf 

Haslip, M. J., & Gullo, D. F. (2018). The changing landscape of early childhood education: Implications for policy and practice. Early Childhood Education Journal, 46, 249-264. https://www.academia.edu/download/89750302/s10643-017-0865-720220816-1-16g15hz.pdf 

Kumi‐Yeboah, A., & Amponsah, S. (2023). An exploratory study of instructors’ perceptions on inclusion of culturally responsive pedagogy in online education. British Journal of Educational Technology, 54(4), 878-897. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Samuel-Amponsah-3/publication/366813282_An_exploratory_study_of_instructors’_perceptions_on_inclusion_of_culturally_responsive_pedagogy_in_online_education/links/63e96c8ddea6121757a4c5cb/An-exploratory-study-of-instructors-perceptions-on-inclusion-of-culturally-responsive-pedagogy-in-online-education.pdf 

Manera, L. (2022). Art and aesthetic education in the Reggio Emilia Approach. Education 3-13, 50(4), 483-493. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lorenzo-Manera/publication/360045392_Art_and_aesthetic_education_in_the_Reggio_Emilia_Approach/links/63d2f34362d2a24f92ce7eee/Art-and-aesthetic-education-in-the-Reggio-Emilia-Approach.pdf 

Mhlongo, S., Dlamini, R., & Khoza, S. (2017). A conceptual view of ICT in a socio-constructivist classroom. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Siyabonga-Mhlongo-3/publication/322203195_A_conceptual_view_of_ICT_in_a_socio-constructivist_classroom/links/5a54a6c1a6fdccf3e2e2f595/A-conceptual-view-of-ICT-in-a-socio-constructivist-classroom.pdf 

Ragoonaden, K., & Mueller, L. (2017). Culturally responsive pedagogy: Indigenizing curriculum. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 47(2), 22-46. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1154077.pdf 

Smith, C. (2022). Socio-constructivist pedagogy in physical and virtual spaces: the impacts and opportunities on dialogic learning in creative disciplines. Architecture_MPS, 22(1). http://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/16845/1/Socio-Constructivist%20Pedagogy%20in%20Physical%20and%20Virtual%20Spaces.pdf 

Sorzio, P., & Campbell-Barr, V. (2019). The Reggio Approach in Motion: Documenting Experiences, Reflecting on Practice, and Disseminating the Ideas. Journal of Childhood Studies, 1-12. https://journals.uvic.ca/index.php/jcs/article/view/19328/8440 

Su, J., & Yang, W. (2022). Artificial intelligence in early childhood education: A scoping review. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 3, 100049. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666920X22000042 

Tessier, V., & Mithra, Z. (2019). Assessment of collaborative design: A sociocultural approach. In DS 95: Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education (E&PDE 2019), University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. 12th-13th September 2019. https://www.designsociety.org/download-publication/42232/ASSESSMENT+OF+COLLABORATIVE+DESIGN%3A+A+SOCIOCULTURAL+APPROACH