Birth to three matters - Communities and Local Government
Birth to three matters - Communities and Local Government
Birth to three matters - Communities and Local Government
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
thus showing that the theory was ‘contextdependent’ (Hutt 1979).In other words,familiarity with particular activities <strong>and</strong>experiences, usually those that areembedded in the everyday life of the child,lead <strong>to</strong> developments in the abilitiesinvolved, as Margaret Donaldson (1978)pointed out. The task for early childhoodpractitioners is <strong>to</strong> make activitiesmeaningful <strong>to</strong> young children <strong>and</strong> so leadthem from those that make sense withina particular context <strong>to</strong> those which areless context-dependent (for examplebecoming able <strong>to</strong> count a small numberof objects anywhere when you are aboutfour years old, because you have hadexperiences of counting drinks or seatsneeded for a little group, or other objects,in the familiar world of your home,childminder’s or nursery).Some researchers (see for exampleDahlberg et al 1999; Singer 1992) arguethat one cannot generalise aboutchildren’s learning <strong>and</strong> development,that it is dangerous <strong>to</strong> impose ideas fromone culture on<strong>to</strong> others, because it isimportant <strong>to</strong> take account of the contextdependentnature of children’sunderst<strong>and</strong>ings. After all,it is important<strong>to</strong> note, as we argued in chapter 1,thattheories, as well as research,happen inparticular places at particular times <strong>and</strong>both are therefore subject <strong>to</strong> culturalassumptions <strong>and</strong> values. However, theimpact of postmodern 1 ideas cansometimes mean that, unintentionally,a flight from theorising follows – ‘throwingthe baby out with the bathwater’ – whichcan also be dangerous, because when weexplore the reasons underpinning practiceor policy we become aware of our ownassumptions, ideas or theories, <strong>and</strong> we canenhance them by debating the ‘gr<strong>and</strong>theories’. By reflecting on ‘gr<strong>and</strong> theories’in the light of our own practicalexperience, we can decide how applicableeach of them is <strong>to</strong> the children we workwith <strong>and</strong> in our own work contexts. Butwe also need <strong>to</strong> see the extent <strong>to</strong> whichtheories are supported by researchevidence, at least where they can beresearched empirically. We can thenaccept, adapt or reject the ‘gr<strong>and</strong> theory’in question <strong>and</strong> be more aware of our owntheories – how we ‘make sense’ of children– <strong>and</strong> how our theories affect our work.So some researchers (for example, Rabanet al 2002) propose that we should usea range of theories, while recognising theirlimitations, so that we can move the fieldof Early Childhood Education <strong>and</strong> Care(ECEC) forward, <strong>and</strong> include ideas <strong>and</strong>research findings from other relevantfields.This chapter outlines the majorMinority World child developmenttheories, which have influenced the fieldof ECEC <strong>and</strong> readers are urged <strong>to</strong> use thereferences <strong>to</strong> pursue further debate.1Philip Gammage (1999:163) argues that the ‘core of postmodernism is essentially this:a time when rules, cus<strong>to</strong>ms, beliefs, values <strong>and</strong>ideas are subjected <strong>to</strong> reanalysis, when a greater awareness of their context-dependent, subjective nature is revealed’.24 EDUCATIONAND SKILLS B I RT H T O T H R E E M AT T E R S