Theorists in a sentence
 

If you could sum up a Theorist in one statement - Who would you choose and what would you say about them ?

You should be asking that question in about three weeks time, once we've all got out thinking heads back on and in gear...... I don't mind admitting my brains turned to complete mush, although having said that -this is the first time I've had the six weeks holiday off, so I'm hoping it's only a temporary lapse in memory and thinking skills!!!!
xxx

Childcare theorists, Government initiatives and well-meaning 'experts' full of advice come and go but the ongoing needs of children remain the same; it is only by working closely with children and by listening to what they have to say that anyone can hope to fulfil their needs and it is only by making mistakes and trying our best that we can prepare this generation to tackle needs of the next

Sarahx :smile:

Mine!

That is a perfect answer to natural insight and all round balance .. for some though it can be harder associating their practice to theory and being able to evaluate things that occur in daily life.

With my sadly poor knowledge of theorists, the one thing I have gleaned is that they can provide reasons to actions and sign posts to solutions.

Finding a direction that you can implement by researching theory is adding weight to your own self confidence & development .. government initiative could one day be given its own category of theory, what rate of pay would you give those that had to index it :D lol

B.F.Skinner-Reinforcement and punishment moulds behaviour, children are conditioned by their experiences.

Alfred Bandura- Learning takes place by imitation, more emphasis on inner motivational factors.

Lev Vygotsky-Development is primarily driven by language, social context and adult guidance.

Jean Piaget -Development takes place in distinct stages of cognitive development, adults influence but the child is building their own thinking systems.

i think the theorists help to give an understanding of how to help the child develop to their full potential, for example piagets stages give you an idea of what activities and resources the child needs for their development stage, and skinner shows that even just having the experience of being in a setting will impact the child. I completed a 3 year child education & development degree, in which we had a few modules about the theorists, after i found that i could understand better, why children behave like they do, although they are all different and what their individual needs were, and also what they needed from me. learning different peoples theories helped me to have a greater understanding of all of this. i wouldnt say that one theorist alone was right and another was wrong, they all combine to give an overall deeper understanding of child develpoment. Wow i did learn something from uni! I finished 2 years ago and still remember something!