This study constructs an Experiential Learning Management Model (ELMM) for early childhood education, rooted in social cognitive theory (SCT) and constructivist theory. ELMM integrates six key modules: Experiential Learning, Metacognitive Monitoring, Dynamic Assessment, Contextualized Learning, Social Interaction, and Double-Loop Learning Paths.…

This article offers a critique of the quality of theorising underlying proposals on curriculum and pedagogy in the Cambridge Primary Review. Despite its strengths, the review is seen as omitting consideration of three major areas in primary education: gifted pupils, teacher effectiveness research and the private sector. Questions are raised about…

Because child welfare workers serve the most vulnerable children and families, it is necessary that they have sufficient knowledge, skills, and values (competencies) to provide quality services. This study focuses on competencies that the Division of Child and Family Services, Utah (DCFS) views as essential for entry-level child welfare work, and…

Replies to commentary regarding authors' earlier article proposing a modified constructivist account of origins of mental representation. Elaborates on Smith's discussion contrasting empiricist and constructivist approaches. Discusses Smith's restatement of Piaget's position in terms of levels of representational capacities and replies to specific…

Discusses objective knowledge and reality; objective experience and objectivity; objectivity without representation; and problems with constructivism. Argues that at issue with Muller, Sokol, and Overton's model is dispensability of the representation concept in an account of knowledge development during infancy. Concludes that a constructivist…

Suggests a model for the development of mental representation. Explores empiricist and constructivist models and maintains that the constructivist model provides a better ground for theory building. Evaluates Piaget's constructivist account of the emergence of mental representation. Proposes that his account is insufficient and suggests a…

In recent years there has been a rapid growth of interest in the sociological study of childhood. Drawing on a large body of contemporary sociological and anthropological research, this book develops key links between the study of childhood and social theory, exploring its historical, political, and cultural dimensions. Through a consideration of…

Understanding children's experience is increasingly a key purpose of much educational research. In contrast to traditional approaches to the study of children that emphasized the socialization of children through various stages of development, researchers within the social constructionism perspective begin with an insistence that childhood is a…

The paper is focused on recent researches in neuroscience and developmental psychology regarding mathematical abilities of infants. A model that tries to explain these findings is developed. The model underlies the mental operations that could be systematically trained to generate efficient school learning. The model is built from a cognitive…

Differentiates traditional education, progressive education, constructivism, and the Montessori approach. Examines the role of motivation in constructivism and in Montessori's planes of development. Concludes that Montessorians and constructivists are allies in the struggle to liberate children from conventional educational methods, which blunt…

Examines experiences of a 5- and 7-year-old entering a U.S. early childhood program in context of child development theory, constructivist philosophy, and the Japanese social teaching model. Urges educators to consider alternatives to "tourist approach" in multicultural education and ways to translate individual differences into learning…

Noting that effective teaching models that emphasize critical thinking in mathematics and science are used less often in early childhood classrooms than in those for older students, this book provides early childhood educators with an explanation of teaching models that promote 3- to 8-year-olds critical thinking, problem solving, decision making,…

Some early childhood educators have proposed that the knowledge base used to inform the early education field actually serves to support the status quo, reinforces prejudices and stereotypes, and ignores the real lives of children. The purpose of this book is to deconstruct early childhood education, identifying and evaluating the themes and forms…