Early childhood education focuses on the first five years of life. In early childhood, experiences could influence the entire life of a human, and shape what kind of person they will be. Early childhood education has been continuously explored up to now. There are many theorists, who have focused on the human development. This essay will introduce several theories of early childhood education in human development, which will include Erikson’s Psychological Theory, Vygotsky’s Socio-Cultural Theory and Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological System Theory.
It is believed that people at different stages have differences in the physical and mental development. Erikson was a representative stage theorist, who concluded several stages in human life. In early …show more content…
Realistically though, children’s development can be affected by diverse situations in their life. The Socio-Cultural Theory was developed by Lev Vygotsky, who supported that the development of children can be influenced by various points: parents, peers, education and culture. According to Vygotsky (Santrock, 2011), social interaction can grow their cognition, which relies on the tools offered by society. Their upbringing and culture can shape their awareness and …show more content…
“Scaffolding” was developed by Bruner. It is significant that an adult can reduce their help appropriately to extend the ability of children’s individual problem solving. Children’s capabilities can be extended when they are guided by more skilled people. More experienced people can hand down their knowledge, values, and culture through social interaction with proper “scaffolding.” Therefore, adults have to clearly realise children’s upper limits and lower limits of ability and give them help. Moreover, Socio-Cultural Theory contributes to collaborative learning. Vygotsky argues that children’s learning is based on “cooperatively achieved success.” There is no denying that cooperative learning could be more efficient in problem solving than alone. When children are solving problems and playing together, they may have more ideas and skills. Thus, they are capable of mastering more skills and finding out new things in the world (David, 1999).
Children’s developmental factors are closely related to the environment of home and outside the home. Bronfenbrenner was a theorist, who generated The Ecological System Theory, and “described it as a set of nested Russian dolls” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 19). The theory consists of five environmental systems:
It is believed that people at different stages have differences in the physical and mental development. Erikson was a representative stage theorist, who concluded several stages in human life. In early …show more content…
Realistically though, children’s development can be affected by diverse situations in their life. The Socio-Cultural Theory was developed by Lev Vygotsky, who supported that the development of children can be influenced by various points: parents, peers, education and culture. According to Vygotsky (Santrock, 2011), social interaction can grow their cognition, which relies on the tools offered by society. Their upbringing and culture can shape their awareness and …show more content…
“Scaffolding” was developed by Bruner. It is significant that an adult can reduce their help appropriately to extend the ability of children’s individual problem solving. Children’s capabilities can be extended when they are guided by more skilled people. More experienced people can hand down their knowledge, values, and culture through social interaction with proper “scaffolding.” Therefore, adults have to clearly realise children’s upper limits and lower limits of ability and give them help. Moreover, Socio-Cultural Theory contributes to collaborative learning. Vygotsky argues that children’s learning is based on “cooperatively achieved success.” There is no denying that cooperative learning could be more efficient in problem solving than alone. When children are solving problems and playing together, they may have more ideas and skills. Thus, they are capable of mastering more skills and finding out new things in the world (David, 1999).
Children’s developmental factors are closely related to the environment of home and outside the home. Bronfenbrenner was a theorist, who generated The Ecological System Theory, and “described it as a set of nested Russian dolls” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 19). The theory consists of five environmental systems: