Chapter 2: Theories and Program Approaches
Overview
Imagine a classroom of children playing and learning. What type of activities do you see? How do you know that what is going on in the classroom is supportive of children’s development? In this chapter, we will learn about different theories that guide child developmental science as well as early childhood education program approaches that use varying methods to support children’s development.
Objectives
After completing this chapter, you should be able to:
- Explain how child development and learning theories are frameworks for helping teachers understand how children develop.
- Identify the different philosophies of various early learning program approaches that guide their curriculum and practices with young children
- Describe how high-quality early learning programs use theories to inform their work.
Key Terms
- Attachment Pattern
- Conditioning
- Constructivism
- Internal Working Model
- Intrinsic Motivation
- Life Crisis
- Models
- More Knowledgeable Other
- Object Permanence
- Program Approach
- Reinforcers
- Scaffolding
- Schemas
- Theory
- Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
Attributions
- Chapter opening image: Untitled by thedanw is released under Pixabay License
