UNIT: EDU20003

Contemporary perspectives of learning

and development

Assessment 1:
Essay

The educational perspectives and theories about children, childhood, and education are changing
over time. The education philosophies of Montessori and Reggio Emilia are very popular approaches
which have spread all over the world. Thus, those approaches have lots of influence on the learning
and development of children, childhood and contemporary education. They can be understood with
references to their social, cultural and historical underpinnings and philosophical factors.

Perspectives on children

According to the United Nations, children are defined as" a person below the age of 18, unless the
laws of a particular country set the legal age for adulthood younger” (UNICEF, n.d.). Children are
viewed by people differently according to cultural and historical differences, so different cultures
and generations design and provide different education for their children. Also, people’s view of
childhood is influenced by our experience, beliefs, and values (Holland, 2004). Schorsh (1979) states
that in the 16th century or earlier times, western children were positioned as worthless because
they could not take as many responsibilities as adults. Also, they could not earn money and make a
profit, and even brought a financial burden to their family (O’Brien, 2019). Luckily, things changed,
from the 17th century, John Locke (1632-1704) suggested that there were differences between
adults and children. John Locke's believed that children are born with no innate knowledge, they
build up skills and acquired knowledge through successive learning, sensations, and reflections
which they need to use in their adulthood (Neaum, 2010).Furthermore, the Philosopher Jean
Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) proposed that children are born essentially good and innocent, and
they should be loved, nurtured and protected. Thus, people have a totally different view of children
in different generations. Society has increasingly recognised the importance of education, learning
and development for children, which have greatly improved. The children in Reggio Emilia are
recognized as having rights and democratic citizenship and are viewed as strong, capable, competent
and rich in potential (Slightlines Initiative, 2015).

Perspectives on childhood

Childhood is defined as the period when a child is “ in the early stages of its life course, biologically,
physiologically and socially; it is a member of a generation referred to collectively by adults as
children, who together temporarily occupy a space that is created for them by adults” (James &
James, 2008, p.14). People's perspective of children changes over time. The past perspective
believed childhood is not a separate phase of development, children are depicted as the same as
adults, which means they are treated as a miniature adult (Sorin, 2006). Nowadays, childhood is
thought of as an innocent stage and most important stage of one's development. So, adults aim to
construct a safe, sanitized and nurturing environment for children, and keep them away from
damage and protect them (Corsaro, 1997). Furthermore, because childhood is a social construction,
people from different cultural backgrounds have a different perspective on children, so they define
and treat children differently. For example, Japanese parents provide less protection compared to
most of the western parents (Newman, 2004), because in Japanese culture, people believe children
are more independent creatures, which is different from western culture. Childhood is created by
each society: Each society can create its own image of children. The image is a cultural convention,
and there are many possible images (Rinaldi, 2001).

perspectives on education

In traditional education, children are forced to sit in the classroom to study for a long period of time.
The teacher does all the talking and imposes upon the student, and therefore “teacher centred
learning ‘was common in the past. There is a clear boundary between the different subjects, so
children would not develop their imagination to link the knowledge that they had received to
support their further learning. Thus, children’s innovation was hardly developed (O’ Brien, 2019).

Montessori (Social and cultural factor influence children’s learning and development)

Montessori’s curriculum approach was created by the Italian educator Dr. Maria Montessori
(Nutbrown, 2006). This teaching method aims to cultivate children to be active and conscious
learners and nurture their spirit of exploration. In the Montessori classroom, the teacher prepares a
variety of teaching aids which is suitable for children’s growth and development during the sensitive
period. Montessori teaching content includes daily life education, sensory education, mathematics
education, language education, science and culture education and so on. Montessori believed
children’s learning happened through repetition, concentration, imagination, and they gain multi-
faceted ability and construct a better personality during free training operations (Nutbrown, 2006).
Furthermore, Montessori highlights ‘child-centred’ learning and a well-prepared environment is
important (Nutbrown, 2006). She believes that a warm and attractive learning environment may get
children interested about learning and engage children in learning. The teacher plays a leading role
in children's learning when they set up the learning environment. A good environment must meet
each child’s needs according to their culture. To set up a suitable environment for children, the
Montessori teacher need to understand the needs and interest of children and families from
culturally diverse background. Based on that, the teacher can better work on children's skills and
their cognitive and fine motor skills development during the sensitive period (Sun Day with s Ara,
2018), and make a positive difference to children’s mental health and wellbeing. Furthermore, A
Montessori class pre-plans the lesson content, making it suitable for the typical age group, so
children are restricted to learn what the teacher prepares for them (Nutbrown, 2006). However,
every child's development level and individual needs are different. The pre-planned lesson might not
cover the individual needs for learning, and this might slow down children's comprehensive
development. Moreover, the Montessori curriculum emphasizes the importance of children playing
quiet games and the ability to cultivate independent concentration. To a certain extent, this also
limits children's use of natural energy and their development of social skills. The Montessori
classroom is constituted by many children, they need to learn how to get along with others, respect
the rights of others, and to share the material within their environment. This helps children to hone
social skills that they need as they grow up and become productive members of their communities
(Jones, 2015). Thus, the learning environment plays an important role in their social development
(NSW Department of Education and Training, 2006).

Reggio Emilia (Social and cultural factor influence children’s learning and development)

The Reggio Emilia education approach was first developed by the psychologist and educator Loris
Malaguzzi (O’ Brine, 2019). Reggio Emilia curriculum emphasizes the development of "interactive
relationships" and "cooperative participation”. She stated that children's learning is not constructed
independently, they construct knowledge, emotions, and personality in a specific cultural context.
Children’s personality and hobbies should be respected and encouraged to assist free
understanding, exploration, and development (Edwards &Susan, 2009). Reggio Emilia believed the
relationships between children, teacher, and parents are essential for children's learning and
development (Edwards &Susan, 2009). Good interaction between parents, children, and families
could strengthen children's sense of identities, so they can feel self-confident and that they belong
when they are participating in activities. When parents and teacher cooperate, they can achieve
better learning for children and provide many opportunities and ways for children's development,
and Reggio Emilia believe children can experience the best in this situation. Parents and teacher can
create opportunities for children to structure their own language and support them to achieve
better communication with the people around them. The parent’s background determines children’s
cultural background, they teach children their first language in their early stage of life. This is the
foundation of a cultural group and creates a sense of belonging to the community. Different cultures
have their own way to define a child and their way to raise(teach) the children, thus culture is a
factor that influences children’s learning and development. When children are part of a cultural
group, they may feel cared for and respected. This helps children to build a positive cultural identity,
and reduce the chance lacking social connection. Therefore, in the particularly warm and safe social
environment, children are more likely to better develop their wellbeing and mental health
(KidsMatter Australia, n.d.). Also, the interactive cooperation between family and the school can
help to develop new methods of education, and the responsibility of children's education is shared
by the school and family. From Reggio Emilia’s pragmatic experience, Malaguzzi concludes the
importance of the social and cultural environment, social cognition and recent development areas,
as well as the socialism of Vygotsky. Vygotsky emphasized the importance the social in children’s
development. He argues that children’s basic thought is formed by language. Children’s language
development depends on their social’ language development. Once the children develop rich and
effective langue skills, they could further develop in a social context (NSW Department of Education
and Training, 2006). The concept of “interaction and cooperation” works between the entire town
and the early childhood institution, children participate in the town activity and cultural sharing to
better connect to the society around them (Edwards &Susan, 2009).

From the Reggio perspective, infant-toddler centres are places of life for children, teachers, and
families. It can transmit culture and support the family, create a new culture and a culture of
childhood. It is also the places in which people offer a new image of the child, childhood, teacher,
and the family to the society (Rinaldi, 2001).

Reggio Emilia approach believes environment as the third teacher (Edwards& Susan, 2009). A
friendly and welcome social environment makes children feel a sense of belonging and build up their
social connection. In a supportive cultural environment, children are more likely to build a positive
cultural identity. In the multi-culture country like Australia, developing relationship across cultures
requires a good communication and flexibility to support children’s social and emotional wellbeing
(KidsMatter Australia, n.d.).

The philosophical factors that affect development and learning

There are two main preschool philosophies that people would find when looking for a preschool.
They are developmental and academic. The developmental school often has play-based and child-
centre classroom, so that children can grow and learning at a different rate. Thus, children’s
individualism is the focus (Kidsinthehouse, 2019). Reggio Emilia’s approach allows children to learn
with free mindset, develop different skills through playing. In the academic school, the teacher
focuses on following the curriculum, and children are studying as a group according to their learning
level, so the children could help each other and prepare to their next stage of the study
(Kidsinthehouse, 2019). The Montessori approach is more academic as it categorises children in to
different groups, so that children have similar education ability learn together to develop the skills
and get ready for their future learning.

Historical factors that affect development and learning

In the past, only the children that came from rich families could receive an education and the rest
were asked to work as paid or unpaid labour to support their families or to assist in household
duties. Therefore, children from poor economic background did not have a chance to get a formal
education in schools (O’ Brien, 2019).

Gender discrimination was also historically reported over time. Females are positioned in an inferior
status than male, thus they may not have a chance to receive education and forced to do all the
household work from a young age. This mindset negatively affected young girls’ learning and their
mental development and wellbeing. Furthermore, there is gender discrimination in the process of
choosing a career. Many people think that it is not suitable for the female gender to work as an
engineer, industrial worker, instead they should work as a nurse, teacher or a person in the mass
communication field. Therefore, females were more likely to lose the opportunities to learn
compare to men, which might have a negative effect on females’ development and learning
(Arowolo, Zakari & Lbrahim, 2010).

Later, technological applications in education became popular all around the world. Children could
use the technology devices like a laptop or tablet to study whenever they wanted to study. The
efficiency of children's learning improved significantly. Educators from different places could share
their learning approaches and strategies with each other via the internet, thus improve teaching to
better fulfil of children's learning and development requirements. Developed countries having a
stronger financial background could provide the newest equipment, instructors, and teachers to
support modern education (Arowolo, Zakari & Lbrahim, 2010). In Montessori classes, teachers could
provide ICT learning resources for children’s learning, to improve knowledge retention, children’s
engagement to the class; encourage individual learning and collaboration, and learning useful life
skill through technology (Savvidis, 2016).

Personal teaching practice

When I was doing my placement in an early childcare centre, children were allowed to play with toys
of their interest and do whatever they wanted to do as we set up the daily activities according to
children’s interest and recorded them. This teaching practice matches the Reggio Emilia approach
which highlights the freedom of learning. The Reggio Emilia approach encourages a child’s
independent learning, so learning progress documentation is critical (Rainforest learning centre,
2016). We documented children’s learning progress by taking pictures of the activities, saved
children’s work (such as drawing, crafts, work of arts), sometimes displayed them in the classroom;
to track children’s progress of learning (Rainforest learning centre, 2016). When parents came to
pick up their children after school, the teacher would spend some time to have a conversation with
the parents. During this conversation, parents could provide more information about the child, so
the teacher could get a better understanding of child’s background, personality and hobbies. Thus,
with better understanding of the child, the teacher could build trust and a stronger relationship with
the child to better support the child’s learning and development. Furthermore, the conversation
could enhance the relationship between the teacher and the parents, so they could cooperate to
improve children’s learning. This teaching practice matched the Reggio Emilia’s approach, which
places emphasis on the relationship between children, parents and teacher, it is crucial factor on
children’s development and learning (Edward& Susan, 2009)

In conclusion, the past perspective of children, childhood, and education is totally different from the
current perspective. Montessori and Reggio Emilia education approaches place influences on
children’s learning and learning, from the social, cultural, historical and philosophical perspective,
and my own personal teaching is related to those theories.

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