1,054 research outputs found
Developmental education:Foundations of a play-based curriculum
No full textThis chapter gives a general conceptual introduction to the educational approach called “Developmental Education”, as it was developed in the Netherlands on the basis of Vygotskij’s Cultural-historical theory of human development. This educational approach is usually profiled as a play-based curriculum; what this means will be clarified in the course of this chapter. The main foundational concepts will be explained: agency, social situation of development, meaningful learning, involvement, leading activity, zone of proximal development, and finally play will be discussed. The notion of play in particular is presented as a fundamental concept that characterises the whole approach as play-based. This chapter will serve as a reference frame for those that follow
Promoting abstract thinking in young children's play
No full textAbstract thinking is generally seen as an ability that is not accessible for young children. In Developmental Education, however, teachers introduce young children to activities that call for abstract processes that make sense to them. When we conceive of abstraction as an act of representing reality from a specific point of view, it turns out that young children are able to focus consistently on one point (neglecting others), and hence to abstract. This chapter describes examples of how children can act abstractly in the context of their play and can represent their abstract point of view schematically. By so doing young children can even appropriate the ability to abstract up to a level that helps them when mastering elementary mathematical operations. The chapter shows practical ways of abstracting and schematising with young children, and argues for the meaningful inclusion of schematising activities in young children’s play
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