Monday, October 27, 2008

Methods of Education

Philosophy Part II - Methods of Education
Amy Shao

The Reggio Emilia Approach is based on the principles of respect, responsibility, and community through exploration and discovery in a supportive and enriching environment. The Reggio Emilia approach to teaching young children puts the natural development of children as well as the close relationships that they share with their environment at the center of its philosophy. Early childhood programs that have successfully adapted to this educational philosophy share that they are attracted to Reggio because of the way it views and respects the child. They believe that the central reason that a child must have control over his or her day-to-day activity is that learning must make sense from the child's point of view. To make it meaningful, it also must be of interest to the child. That is one way they have control over their learning.
The Waldorf curriculum is designed to be responsive to the various phases of a child's development. The era of human history being studied corresponds in many ways with the stage of development of the child. The total Waldorf curriculum has been likened to an ascending spiral: subjects are revisited several times, but each new exposure affords greater depth and new insights into the subject at hand.
The philosophy behind High/Scope, based on Jean Piaget's ideas, is that children should be involved actively in their own learning. They "learn by doing", often working with hands on materials and carrying out projects of their own choosing. The adults working with the children see themselves more as facilitators or partners than managers or supervisors. High/Scope's approach encompasses all aspects of child development and involves teachers and parents in supporting and extending children's emotional, intellectual, social, and physical skills and abilities. An important part of the High/Scope approach is the plan-do-review sequence. Children first plan what materials they want to work with and what they want to do (this can be done formally or informally in small groups). Only once they have made a plan, however vague, of what they want to do can they go and do it. Then, after this choice worktime, the children discuss what they have been doing and whether it was successful.
The Bank Street School for Children educates the whole child, the entire emotional, social, physical, and intellectual being, while at the same time, the child's integrity as learner, teacher, and classmate is valued and reinforced.
The Reggio Emilia approach is similar to Montessori in that it sees the environment as the center of its philosophy. Since Montessori believes that environment affects a child greatly, they can agree upon that point. However, Montessori believes in the teachers a bit more than Emilia. A child in the Montessori School, while having freedom, does not have the degree of freedom that a Emilia child has. This is to allow the teachers to guide the children. The Waldorf education deemphasizes formal learning in an early child’s lesson which I feel Montessori wants. There is no teaching of history or advanced mathematics, only watching the child learn through experience and mostly be probing and experimenting. However, the Waldorf Education has a teacher who stays with the students the entire eight years of education while the Montessori school does not employ this method. I think the High Scope School is very similar to Montessori in that the children learn by hands on activities and living day to day life. Also their education encompasses the whole child. However, they allow the children to make their own lesson plans. Montessori feels that teachers should guide the children more as to what to do since they are still young. Lastly, the Bank School for Children, like Montessori, requires teachers to educate the whole child, the entire social, physical and intellectual being. It is different than Montessori in that it is more of a traditional “school” than Montessori is.
Links:
Reggio Emiliahttp://www.brainy-child.com/article/reggioemilia.html
Waldorf:http://www.whywaldorfworks.org/02_W_Education/index.asp
High Scope:http://www.highscope.org/
Bank Street:http://www.bankstreet.edu/sfc/