Steiner believed that children need to be surrounded by beauty in an aesthetically pleasing atmosphere. He said the classroom should be a homelike setting furnished with natural materials where children have sessions of guided free-play, which focuses on their developmental needs. Steiner believed that children should be taught respect, cooperation, compassion and social responsibility in the classroom. Also, children are discouraged from using technology at young ages, which contributes to their creative imaginative thinking. If there is a lack of exposure to televisions, computers, and other forms of technology then this creates children with extended attention spans. They are able to focus on tasks for longer periods of time as they are not used to the instant satisfaction that technology can provide.
Te Whariki
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Te Whariki is for children and is not like a school curriculum. It does not direct formal subject teaching. Te Whariki is a curriculum which includes a lot of what a child would experience at their home in a relationship with parents and family and community, for example, able to have a strong sense of belonging, well-being, making contributions, communicating, and exploring through play and family activities.
Te Whariki sets out four broad principles, five strands, and goals for each strand, these are:
Principles
1. Empowerment
The early childhood curriculum empowers the child to learn and grow.
2. Holistic Development
The early childhood curriculum reflects the holistic way children learn and grow.
3. Family and Community
The wider world of family and community is an essential part of the early childhood curriculum.
4. Relationships
Children learn through understanding and mutual relationships with people, places, and things.
Strands and Associated Goals
Strand 1. Well-being
Goals
This is where children can experience an environment where their health is developed, their emotional well-being is nurtured, and they are kept safe from harm.
Strand 2. Belonging
Goals
This is where children and their families experience an environment where they are connecting links with the family and the broader world is affirmed and extended. The children know that they have a place and they feel comfortable with the routines, customs, and regular events. Also, the children know the limits and boundaries of acceptable behaviour.
Stand 3: Contribution
Goals opportunities for learning, irrespective of gender, ability, age, ethnicity, or background. The children are affirmed as individuals, and they are encouraged to learn with and alongside others.
Strand 4: Communication
Goals
This where children experience an environment where they can develop non-verbal communication skills for a range of purposes. Also, the children experience the stories and symbols of their own and other cultures. The children discover and develop different ways to be creative and expressive.
Strand 5: Exploration
Goals
This is where children experience an environment where their play is valued as meaningful learning and the importance of natural play is recognised. The children gain confidence in and control of their bodies and they learn strategies for active exploration, thinking and reasoning. Also, they develop working theories for making sense of the natural, social, physical, and material worlds.
All the children's learning is interweaved within each other, as the meaning of Te Whariki means the woven mat. This is where the parents and a lot of family involvement working in groups is encouraged for the guide and support of the children's development.
Social pedagogy
Social pedagogy is the learning that takes place at a wider scale than a group or individual learning through social interaction between peers. Social Pedagogy can be used in any work setting in which the focus is to support individuals and groups. This approach enables staff to support children in order to overcome challenging life situations. Social pedagogy gives a theoretical and practical framework for understanding children’s childhood. It has a particular focus on developing relationships through effective engagement with children using skills such as art and music or outdoor activities. Social pedagogy is about the holistic well-being, education and is a shared responsibility between parents and society as a whole. It develops children's knowledge of what is expected of them as an individual in the community. It also helps the children gain skills in learning, coping with emotions and physical skills, it's there to teach children how to become a valued member of society. In the words of Karl Mager (1844) “Social Pedagogy is the theory of all the personal, social and moral education in a given society, including the description of what has happened in practice.” Social pedagogy links to the EYFS characteristics of effective learning. It is a very good example of holistic education by encouraging children to grow up as self-responsible people who can take responsibility for themselves and their environment.
Effective Pedagogy in current practice help us:
Create a supportive learning environment.
It encourages
This where children experience an environment where there are equal reflective thought and action.
It enhances the importance of new learning.
Facilitated shared learning.
It helps make connections to prior learning and experience.
It provides sufficient opportunities to learn.
Study the teaching-learning relationship.such as going to parent-teacher meetings and attending their child's school plays or
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