©2011 cengage learning. all rights reserved. chapter 1 foundations of early childhood special...

©2011 Cengage Learning.All Rights Reserved.

Chapter 1

Foundations of Early Childhood Special Education

Defining Terms

• Early Childhood Education ECE includes ages birth through 8 years or infancy through third grade. Thus, it refers to group settings deliberately intended to effect developmental changes in children from birth to the age of entering first grade and continuing through third grade.

• Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) Providing instructional programs that meet the child’s needs, socially, cognitively, physically. It is theoretically and researched based.


Early Contributors

• Jon Amos Comenius (1592-1670)– Advocated for universal education for all children,

including children with disabilities• Wrote the first picture book for children called: “Orbis

Pictus (The World of Pictures, 1658). Schooling should be for the first 6 years of life provided by mothers.

• He advocated learning based on the principles of nature—development is from within so children should be allowed to learn at their own pace.

• He also stressed the basic concept of “learning by doing.”• He is most noted for three significant contributions: books

with illustrations, an emphasis on education with the senses, and the social reform potential of education.

John Locke (1632-1704)

– Introduced the concept of tabula rasa (children are born like a blank slate)

– Locke advocated the concept that environmental factors influences a person’s behavior.

– The purpose of education for Locke was to make man a reasoning creature.


Early Contributors

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)• His ideas are still followed today in early childhood classes. Free

play is based on his belief in children’s inherent goodness and ability to choose what they need to learn.

• Concrete rather than abstract materials for children is still one of the cornerstones of developmentally appropriate curriculum in early childhood

• Johann Heinrich Pestallozi (1746-1827)• Swiss educator who, used nature study as a part of the curriculum

and believed that good education meant the development of the senses.– Advocated for following the children’s interest in designing

school experiences


Early Contributors

• Three distinct contributions of Pestalozzi in the field of early childhood education:– Emphasis on the education of the whole child– Parent involvement as an essential factor in education– Multi-age grouping as a teaching strategy

• He stressed the ideas of an integrated curriculum that would develop the “whole child.”

• He wanted education to be of the hand, the head, and the heart of the child


Early Contributors

• Robert Owen (1771-1858) – Recognized for establishing an Infant School

in 1816– Believed in early education as a critical period

to the development of a child’s character and behavior

– Believed that providing early education is key in alleviating poverty


Early Contributors

• Friedrich Wilhelm Froebel (1782-1852)– Known as the “Father of the Kindergarten”– Advocated for the value and benefit of “play”

as the work of a child– Believed that children should have concrete

experiences in order to learn– He believed that play was the highest phase

of child development.


Early ContributorsFroebel (continued)

• Froebel introduced the concept of “gifts” as manipulative activities to aid in learning basic concepts such as colors, shape, counting, and other educational tasks.

• Learning tools include: cylinders, wooden blocks, natural objects, balls and cubes


Early ContributorsFroebel (continued)

• Froebel’s curriculum also includes “occupations” – fine motor activities to develop eye-hand

coordination such as arts and crafts, bead-stringing, and embroidering.

• Teachers are considered as facilitators of children’s learning, as reflected later in the work of Montessori and Piaget.

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• His kindergartens included blocks, pets, and fingerplays.

• He developed the first educational toys which he termed “gifts.”(manipulative materials)

• Teacher’s role: Facilitator


Leaders of the Twentieth Century

• John Dewey (1859-1952)– He was the first American influence on American

education Known as the founder of the concept of progressive education where the emphasis is on the child’s interests

• He believed that programs for children should be “child-centered”(child centered curriculum and schools)

• He is the founder of Progressivism= Child centered. • Dewey believed that children were valuable and that

childhood was an important part of their lives• Children should have real-life experiences and programs

should be set up so that children were allowed to make choices (They must learn to learn in a democratic society)



• Maria Montessori (1870-1952)– First female to earn a medical degree in Italy– Physician turned educator– She designed and developed activity-based

sensory materials and used them as intervention strategies for children with mental retardation.


Leaders of the Twentieth CenturyMontessori (continued)

• Examples of Montessori’s sensory materials: (see p. 10)– wooden cylinders– material swatches– sound cylinders– tonal bells– green rods

– pink tower

• Many of Montessori’s materials can be used by young children with disabilities.


Elements of Montessori’s Work

• The use of mixed-age grouping

• Individualization within the context of a supportive classroom community

• An emphasis on functionality within the Montessori environment

• The development of independence and the ability to make choices


Elements of Montessori’s Work (continued)

• The development of organized work patterns in children

• The classic Montessori demonstration

• An emphasis on repetition

• Materials with a built-in control of error


Elements of Montessori’s Work (continued)

• Academic materials that provide a concrete representation of the abstract

• Sensory materials that develop and organize incoming sensory perceptions


• Jean Piaget (1896-1980)

– Known for the theory of cognitive stages development or how children think

• Child learns by constructing and reconstructing what he/she knows.

• Developed the concept of the adaptive processes:

• Assimilation

• Accommodation

• Equilibration• Teacher is designer of activities appropriate to child’s level of

development

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Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

• Sensorimotor– Birth to 2 years

• Preoperational – 2 to 7 years

• Concrete operations – 7 to 11 years

• Formal operations – 12 years of age


Lev Vygotsky: Sociocultural Theory(1896-1934)

• Introduced the concept of ZPD, zone of proximal development, as “the distance between the actual development level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers”


Lev Vygotsky: Sociocultural Theory(1896-1934)

• Children progress at their own pace which is influenced by their experiences, present cognitive levels and maturation.

• Zone of proximal Development (ZPD)

• Scaffolding

• First supporter of inclusion!!


Lev Vygotsky

• Another Vygotskian concept, scaffolding, refers to the assistance given a child by adults and peers that allows the individual to function independently and construct new concepts. (Gargiulo, p. 14)


Erik Erikson: Psychosocial theory

Psychosocial Stages:

• Trust vs. mistrust (0 to 12-18)

• Autonomy vs. shame & doubt:

(12-18 to 3 years old)

• Initiative vs. guilt (3 to 6 years old)

The Development of Special Education

• See Table 1-4 (page 18)

• Compensatory education movement of the late 1960s played a major role in the development of early childhood special education.

• Project Head Start came about as a result of the 1964 Economic Opportunity Act.


Compensatory programs: Head Start(1960’s)• To compensate for poor environmental

conditions and insufficient early learning experiences.

• 1964: War on Poverty:HS: Comprenhensive approach

• HS not required to serve children with special needs util 1972

• 1994: Early Head Start: Infants, toddlers and pregnant women

Compensatory Programs

• Goals of the Head Start Program:– Promoting the child’s physical, social, and

emotional development– Developing the child’s readiness for school– Improving health by providing important

services



• Early Head Start emerged as an answer to the need of opening programs to serve children in the birth to three age group.

• Early Head Start incorporates the “four corner emphasis” which embodies child, family, community, and staff development (Allan & Cowdery, 2009).


CAN EARLY EDUCATION MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

• Human Brain is most active during the first 3 years of life

• Early experiences have an impact on the actual structure of the brain (all developmental levels)

• Early experiences have a decisive impact in how a person functions as and adult (all developmental levels)


• Two intervention projects include the Carolina Abecedarian Project and the Perry Preschool Project – programs focused on improving cognitive

abilities of young children living in poverty

• From these projects, more than 120 disadvantaged students were followed from age three to adolescence.


Program Outcomes

• Results from the investigation showed that those individuals who participated in the project as preschoolers:– had higher incomes– were more likely to own a home– had fewer arrests– had less involvement with community social

service agencies


Chapter Summary

• Early childhood general education, special education, and compensatory education have all contributed in the emergence of services we have today for young children with special needs.


©2011 cengage learning. all rights reserved. chapter 1 foundations of early childhood special...

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