Table Of ContentEarly Childhood
Theories and
Contemporary
Issues
An Introduction
Also available from Bloomsbury
Early Childhood Studies: Enhancing Employability and Professional
Practice, Ewan Ingleby, Geraldine Oliver and Rita Winstone
Good Practice in the Early Years, Edited by Janet Kay
Maria Montessori: A Critical Introduction to Key
Themes and Debates, Marion O’Donnell
Early Childhood
Theories and
Contemporary
Issues
An Introduction
Mine Conkbayir and Christine Pascal
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
50 Bedford Square 1385 Broadway
London New York
WC1B 3DP NY 10018
UK USA
www.bloomsbury.com
Bloomsbury is a registered trade mark of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published 2014
© Mine Conkbayir and Christine Pascal, 2014
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or
any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from
the publishers.
Mine Conkbayir and Christine Pascal have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Authors of this work.
No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining
from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury
Academic or the authors.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-1-7809-3594-2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
Typeset by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NN
For Paul and Delilah
Contents
Foreword viii
Preface ix
Acknowledgements xiii
List of Tables and Figures xiv
1 An Overview of Theory and Practice in the Early Years 1
2 Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78) 9
3 Friedrich Froebel (1782–1852) 21
4 Rachel McMillan (1859–1917) and Margaret McMillan
(1860–1931) 31
5 Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) 41
6 John Bowlby (1907–90) 53
7 Jean Piaget (1896–1980) 65
8 Lev Vygotsky (1896–1934) 75
9 Jerome Bruner (1915–) 87
10 Colwyn Trevarthen (1931–) 97
11 Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917–2005) 109
12 Bridging the Gap: Understanding the Use of Neuroscience
in the Early Years 123
13 What Next? Reconceptualizing Early Years Education 139
14 Bringing the Theories Alive – How to Undertake Action
Research in Your Setting 155
15 Back to the Future: Lessons from the Past into the Present 171
Glossary of Terms 189
Bibliography 195
Index 205
Foreword
This book brings theories alive and places them right at the heart of the setting.
It can be difficult to make theories immediately accessible to busy staff but
this book achieves this not least because of Mine Conkbayir’s combined skill as
a writer and experience as a nursery practitioner and tutor and Professor Christine
Pascal’s academic credibility. Together they see the importance of practitioners
understanding the relevance of theories to better inform high quality practice. They
acknowledge that theories are not truths that can apply to every situation but support
the use of theories as a helpful way of guiding practitioners to act responsibly and
enable learning to take place successfully. Mine is clear that what matters is for
practitioners to be able to make informed decisions about how best to respond to the
needs of children, their families and the communities in which we work.
Written eloquently with many ideas, questions and suggestions, Early
Childhood Theories and Contemporary Issues: An Introduction illuminates
the salient ideas of traditional theorists and more modern thinkers. The book
takes into account the more challenging aspects of embedding learning in the
workplace by ensuring questions are built into each chapter to further stimulate
debate and dialogue as we work together to ensure practitioners become
increasingly more reflective in their work.
As CEO of the London Early Years Foundation, I will be delighted to see this
book in our nurseries for staff to use as the need takes them. It will also be on our
library shelves as a reference book for those staff who are currently making deeper
studies including completing their Early Years qualifications.
June O’Sullivan mbe, Chief Executive, London Early Years Foundation (LEYF).
Preface
Having a good grasp of early childhood theories and what these look like in
practice can make a positive difference to how you understand babies and
children and the ways in which they learn. This book provides early years practi-
tioners with easy access to a wide range of theories – both traditional and more
recent, which can helpfully address the dilemmas and issues faced by today’s
workforce. We have therefore used those theories that we think have a resonance
today, as a platform to discuss three key contemporary issues that practitioners
grapple with at present. These being:
● Practitioners’ knowledge base concerning development from conception to
three.
● Creating inclusive and enabling environments.
● The importance of parents and the home learning environment.
These contemporary issues were highlighted by the practitioners as being particularly
challenging in terms of providing high quality provision for babies and the
under-twos. A range of sub-issues were also identified by the practitioners which we
have categorized under each of the three contemporary issues.
The final chapter (15) is where it all comes together, because putting your
knowledge into action then acts as a catalyst for reflective practice – a vital charac-
teristic of professionalism. The work of Donald Schön (1983: 68) on ‘reflection
in action’ encompasses the importance of not only seeking new information but
allowing oneself to modify existing beliefs and ways of behaving in light of this
new information:
The practitioner allows herself to experience surprise, puzzlement, or confusion in
a situation which she finds uncertain or unique. She reflects on the phenomenon
before her, and on the prior understandings which have been implicit in her
behaviour. She carries out an experiment which serves to generate both a new
understanding of the phenomenon and a change in the situation.
We each enter the realm of early years from vastly different cultural, religious and
social backgrounds, and hence, bring with us different perspectives about how
