Foundations of Early Childhood Education

The course is a follow-up of the undergraduate course on historical, philosophical, psychological, social and legal foundations of early childhood education. The course will also cover the nature and needs of preschoolers.

By the end of the course, the students must be able to:

1.       make connections between historical antecedents and current approaches to research and curriculum development in the education of young children;

2.       compare and contrast the philosophical, theoretical and curricular differences of various programmatic models of early childhood education;

3.       describe the developmental changes in children’s cognitive, affective, social and emotional understanding and how these influence early childhood education

4.       recognize the fundamental tenets of developmentally appropriate practice and apply those to specific classroom practices;

5.       develop a positive attitude towards preschoolers, coupled with the commitment to teach them.