1. Week 3: Child Development & Learning Theories
Course: Teaching Methods in the Education for Young Children

2. Maturationist Theory Advanced by Arnold Gessell
Assumptions: Development is a biological process that occurs automatically in predictable, sequential stages over time. Therefore, children will gain knowledge naturally and automatically as they grow physically and become older as far as they are healthy.

3. Gaining knowledge through maturation Dichotomy: Birth vs. Maturity
Birth Maturity
Gaining knowledge through maturation
Dichotomy:
Birth vs. Maturity
Immature vs. Mature
Ignorant vs. Knowledgeable
Maturity=Development=Knowledge
Any problem in this equation?

4. Environmentalist Theory
Developed by John Watson, B. F. Skinner, and Albert Bandura
Assumptions: The child’s environment shapes the child’s behavior and learning. Children’s development, behavior and learning are the reactions to the environment.

5. Constructivist Theory
Advanced by John Piaget, Lev Vygotsky
Assumptions: Children learn when they interact with their environments and people around them. Children are active participants in the learning process, initiating activities that proceed their learning and development. Children thereby ‘construct’ their knowledge acquired from their interactions with the environments and people.

6. Construct = Make
Who constructs knowledge according to the three perspectives?
Maturationist: biological process
Environmentalist: environment
Constructivist: a child, through his or her interaction with the environment and other people

7. Which perspective does this teacher have?
Mary is a kindergarten teacher. She has a student named Jason. Jason is a 6-year-old boy. He can’t read the alphabet at all. He can’t sound out any letter. He even doesn’t know how to follow her directions in the classroom. Mary thinks that Jason is not ready for elementary school yet. What perspective do you think Mary has? And how do you think she would respond to this situation?

8. Constructivist Theory
If you have a constructivist perspective and were Mary, how would you react to the above situation that Mary has faced? What would be the solution in this case if you (Mary) had a constructivist perspective?