The pedagogy of a daycare center may be inspired by one (or several) pedagogical movements or the pedagogical ideas of a person. It is therefore fun and interesting to know what a certain pedagogy entails and how you can see it reflected in the daily practice of the daycare center?
Dalton
Helen Parkhurst (1887-1973) is the founder of the Dalton Plan. There are three principles within Dalton education.
- Freedom in bondage (freedom of choice from a limited list of possibilities)
- Self-motivation (adapted to the child’s level)
- Cooperation
In addition to the three principles, the following characteristics can be found in a Dalton daycare center.
- Employees learn from each other and from the children
- Day colors (each day has a different color)
- Election board (activities to choose from)
- The children choose a buddy. They help each other, undertake and discover new things together
- Vertical groups (children of different ages can help and learn from each other)
Freinet
Célestin Freinet (1896-1966) thought it was important to work from the perception and experience of children. It is the task of the pedagogical employee to guide the child in his urge to investigate and experiment. A Freinet daycare center has the following characteristics.
- A child can choose what he wants to play with.
- Playing is work (what a child does contributes to his development)
- Learning from each other (applies not only to children, but also to parents and pedagogical staff)
- Various play and work corners
- Encouraging your own initiative
- Help with household chores
- Practical exercise in the outside world (walking around the neighborhood, doing errands, etc.)
- Playing with lifelike things (a real cash register)
- Memory booklets (from trips, Christmas, etc.)
- Much attention is paid to the interaction between the children
Gordon method
The Gordon Method is originally a parent training course, developed by Dr. Thomas Gordon (1918-2002). He focused on improving communication between parents and children. What is important with the Gordon method is:
- Making contact (both non-verbal and verbal). Exclusive attention ensures that children in the group are calmer and can play alone for longer periods of time.
- Talking in my first language (without judgment)
- Active listening (the child’s underlying emotion is identified)
- The child is helped to solve his/her own problem
- The skills of these methods promote democratic citizenship
Korczak
Janusz Korczak (1878-1942) has always empathized with the child’s experience, but at the same time always recognized that this same child remains a great mystery. Rules are there to safeguard the rights of the child and to define boundaries. When children are old enough, they can help think and decide (child participation) about rules. Pedagogical action inspired by Korczak’s work consists of six core concepts.
- Dialogue: speaking with rather than about the child
- Observation: watching and listening carefully and keeping a record of this in writing
- Respect: everyone has the right to be there and to be who they are and who they are
- Space: children need space, literally and figuratively
- Participation: children have the opportunity to participate within an agreed framework
- Self-reflection: why do you act the way you do, could this be done differently, what could be (even) better?
Montessori
Maria Montessori (1870-1952) developed a method that is used by relatively many schools and daycare centers in our country. Maria Montessori’s most famous quote is Help me to do it myself. By doing a lot themselves, self-confidence grows and their self-esteem increases. The following are important with this method:
- The prepared environment. The room should be designed in such a way that children can find everything themselves, with the aim of making them independent of adults
- The sensitive period. It is the task of the pedagogical employee to ensure that the right material is offered to the child at the right time.
- Beautiful and attractive materials
- The amount of material is limited. This helps children learn to wait their turn
- The material is presented at child height
- Do housework together
- Learn from each other and take good care of the environment
- Enough space to move around indoors
Pikler
Emmi Pikler (1902-1984) is the founder of the Pikler method for baby groups. In daycare centers where the baby group uses this method, a number of things stand out.
- The space is divided into three zones (a lying area, a crawling and walking area and a room where the babies can be cared for.
- Daily care (eating, washing, changing and the like) is important. It is the moment to give individual attention to the child, a moment to be together and get to know each other.
- During free play, the children have the opportunity to move/play independently
Reggio Emilia
Region Emilia is not a method but a way of life. This approach is based on the complete child. We look at what the child can already do. A child has 100 languages. Not only spoken language, but also dance, games, etc. It is important to record children’s experiences so that a theme can be discussed with parents at home using photos and stories. The Reggio Emilia pedagogy (also known as Sporen in the Netherlands) is based on three pedagogues:
- The children themselves and with each other
- The adults (to guide the child)
- The space (must be as attractive as possible)
Solter
Aletha Solter (born 1945) is an American developmental psychologist who founded the Aware Parenting Institute. In her books she pays a lot of attention to the emotional world of young children and the way in which you can deal with this. She has become widely known for her research into crying. Crying can be a way to release tension. It is important that young children have the opportunity to do this. This also applies to other emotions, such as anger.
Steiner
Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) is the founder of anthroposophy (wisdom of man). Within anthroposophy, attention is paid to the spiritual side of life and there is a lot of room for fantasy and fairy tales. Characteristics of anthroposophical daycare centers are:
- Natural materials and natural toys
- Rest on the group
- Rhythm
- Season table
Other movements and pedagogues
In addition to the above-mentioned movements and pedagogues, there are many other movements and pedagogues that can inspire the pedagogy of a daycare center. These can (if all goes well) be found in the childcare center’s pedagogical policy plan and detailed in the pedagogical work plan.
read more
- Childcare; Horizontal and vertical groups
- NCKO Quality monitor for childcare
- The four-eye principle in childcare