2nd Edition
Theories of Early Childhood Education Developmental, Behaviorist, and Critical
Theories of Early Childhood Education continues to provide a comprehensive overview of the various theoretical perspectives in early childhood education from developmental psychology to critical studies, Piaget to Freire. This revised and updated edition includes additional chapters on Michael Alexander Halliday’s view of language learning and the attachment theory work of John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth. Each author questions assumptions underpinning the use of theory in early childhood education and explores the implications of these questions for policy and practice. Theories reported in this book are a timely reminder of the importance of the relationship between theory and practice necessary for teacher candidates, teacher educators, and early childhood teachers. Students will learn the fundamentals while in-service teachers and professionals will learn the theory behind field observations for their certification exams.
Part I: Developmental Theories 1. Jean Piaget’s Constructivist Theory of Learning 2. Maria Montessori: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow 3. The Eriksons’ Psychosocial Developmental Theory 4. The Importance of Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Theory for Early Childhood Education 5. Vygotskian and Post-Vygotskian Approach: Focusing on “The Future Child” 6. Learning How to Mean. M.A.K. Halliday and the Language of Early Childhood Part II: Infant/Toddler Theories 7. T. B. Brazelton’s Developmental Approach to Learning 8. The Educaring Approach of Magda Gerber 9. Developing Attachment: The Theoretical Work of John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth Part III: Behaviorist Theories 10. The Work of B.F. Skinner: Effective Practices within Early Childhood Settings 11. Ole Ivar Lovaas: A Legacy of Learning for Children with Disabilities Part IV: Critical Theories 12. Mikhail Bakhtin: Dialogic Language and the Early Years 13. Educative Experiences in Early Childhood: Lessons from Dewey 14. The Whole World Is a Chorus: Paulo Freire’s Influence 15. Working with Deleuze and Guattari in Early Childhood Research and Education
Biography
Lynn E. Cohen is Professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at Long Island University, USA.
Sandra Waite-Stupiansky is Professor Emerita at Pennsylvania Western University at Edinboro, USA.
‘The need for this revised text is magnified by the rapidly changing contexts in which early childhood teachers and teacher educators do their work. Early childhood educators need a firm grounding in the powerful theoretical orientations presented in this book. Each author’s attention to practical applications gives practitioners at all levels tools for making informed, appropriate, and defensible decisions. New chapters and updated sections that address contemporary challenges to child-care, early education, and schooling make this revised edition even more valuable to our field.’
J. Amos Hatch, Professor Emeritus, University of Tennessee, Author of Teaching as a Human Activity: Ways to Make Classrooms Joyful and Effective
‘With passion and clarity, this 2nd edition again makes theory engaging and relevant to even the most theory-adverse pre-service teacher and practitioner. With the important additions of language development and attachment, this book offers students and their professors alike an illuminated map to the treasures that theories bring into the early childhood classroom in the hands of a reflective and thoughtful teacher.’
Stephanie Goloway, Ed.D., Professor Emerita of Education, Community College of Allegheny County
‘The authors invite readers to be intimately acquainted with theories that have influenced policy and practice in early childhood education. The book is rooted in the belief that the ways we teach are guided by several bodies of work that frame our understanding of young children, how they think, feel, and learn, and the kinds of approach that will help them attain their success potential. It further provides preservice and in-service teachers with multiple lenses from which to view their core beliefs about teaching and learning; thereby, helping them teach with more intentionality.’
Efleda Tolentino, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Early Childhood Program Director, Department of Teaching and Learning, Long Island University
