Notes for Chapter 1

I.Pioneers of the Guidance Tradition

A.John Comenius

  • recognized the importance of early childhood education and saw parents as the first educators.Believed all children (boys and girls) deserving of an education.Stressed that the desire to learn could be excited by the teacher.

B.Johan Pestalozzi and Robert Owen

  • Pestalozzi advocated an integrated education that addressed hand, heart, and mind.Saw that children learned by organizing and reorganizing experiences.Saw positive behavior as a natural outgrowth when children are involved in engaging activities.
  • Owen took the position that young children should be cared for and educated before becoming industrial workers.
  • Had seven key practices in his schools. Feltpunishment of children underminedthe child’s natural course of development.

C. Friedrich Froebel

  • Froebel was the originator of kindergarten so as to provide an extension of the family life Froebel thought all children should have.Espoused positive guidance so that “the innate impulses of the child” could develop through play and play-like active experiences. Promoted hands-on rather than “recitation-based”teaching.

D. Maria Montessori

  • Montessori was a landmark transition figure.Emphasized practical life skills and sensory-based manipulative materials.She believed that children learn through responsible decision-making.

E. John Dewey

  • Dewey was considered the architect of progressive education.Like Montessori, Dewey viewed the idea of disciplining children as different depending upon the curriculum.His project method involved children in small groupsin which they actively studied topics of meaning to them.

II.Mid-20th-Century Influences: The Developmental and Self Psychologists

A.Jean Piaget

  • provided the foundations of modern developmental psychology.Piaget felt that the developing child learned most effectively by interacting with the environment.Thought peer interaction essential and healthy for the child’s development.

B.The Self Psychologists

  • a group of psychologists that included Combs, Erikson, Maslow, Purkey, and Rogers.They stressed the importance of the developing self as the primary dynamic in human behavior.

C.Rudolph Dreikurs

  • advocated for the application of social science principles to classroom management.He contributed to the movement toward positive discipline.He stressed that teachers needed to work with children rather than opposed to them. One of his greatest contributions was his explanation of the “goals” of misbehavior.He stated that all behavior is goal directed and the utmost goal of behavior is social acceptance.

D.Haim Ginott

  • contributed to articulating the guidance tradition.He emphasized the importance of management methods that respected the feeling and dignity of the individual child.

III.The 1980s: Guidance or Obedience-Based Discipline?

A.Assertive Discipline

  • an obedience-based discipline system.One such program was that of Lee Canter called “assertive discipline.”This was a “take charge” approach for the educator of the day (1976).This method was considered by many educators as controversial.

IV.Programs Supporting the Guidance Tradition

A.Froebel’s Kindergartens

B.Montessori’s Children’s Houses

C.Nursery School Movement

D.Head Start

E.The Public Schools

V.Importance of Parent-Teacher Relations in the Guidance Tradition Today

A.Parent-teacher partnerships have been an important part of the guidance tradition.Modern early childhood programs have shown the value of close parent-teacher relationships.