Contemporary Perspectives of Learning and Development

Overview

In this unit pre-service teachers focus on contemporary approaches and perspectives in education. The unit examines issues affecting the child with specific reference to family, school, peers, culture and diverse social contexts, as well as developmental differences. This provides them with the opportunity to acquire knowledge of diverse traditional and contemporary philosophical and pedagogical perspectives and the capacity to use this knowledge to inform their professional judgments

Learning outcomes

Teaching methods

Hawthorn

Assessment

Content

• Introduction to early childhood development and learning
• Historical and philosophical underpinnings of early childhood education
• Traditional and contemporary influential philosophies and approaches (including Reggio Emilia, Steiner, Montessori, Te Whariki, Forest Schools)
• Past and present images of children and childhood
• Ecology of socialisation
• Contemporary research perspectives of child and childhood including traditional and contemporary theoretical approaches (including humanist, behaviourist, social constructivist, social learning, ecological, critical, queer, post-structuralist, social cultural-historical)
• Issues that affect children in the 21st Century, e.g. bullying, social media and childhood obesity
• The role of effective learning environments