Influence Of Early Childhood Educators - 1684 Words

The scope of this paper will be to compare the different roles that early childhood educators have in supporting the artistic development of children. The theorists Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky and their respective beliefs regarding the instructional practice of early childhood educators will be examined and critiqued. Additionally, this paper will explore what these theorists believe to be the most effective way to teach the visual arts to young children and what role the early childhood educator plays in supporting their development. In a discussion of Piaget, the constructivist theory will be explained and connected to the visual arts education. The socio-cultural theory and social development theory will be closely examined when†¦show more content†¦Kaufman and Beghetto (2014) further suggest that creativity can be fostered in children to a certain extent by providing them with opportunities to express their own unique ideas. The first theorist that will be explored in this paper is Jean Piaget and his theory of constructivism as it applies to visual arts education. The constructivist approach, as explained by Thompson (2015), recognizes that children are naturally curious and eager to explore and learn from their surroundings. Children are actively involved in their learning and when they interact with their environment, it is their experiences that help shape their knowledge and understanding of the world. Thompson (2015) states that the early childhood educator’s primary role in teaching the visual arts is to observe children as they engage in activities. According to Piaget, the educator has a more hands-off role when teaching the visual arts to young children which allows the children to be more self-directed in their learning (Thompson, 2015). In his work, Piaget argued that children need to be provided with experiential learning opportunities and it is the teachers job to act as a facilitato r and help to guide the student’s learning (Thompson, 2015). Piaget also stated that children do not learn through direct teaching methods where the early childhood educators are transmitting knowledge to the students, rather,Show MoreRelatedInfluences Of An Early Childhood Educator1202 Words   |  5 PagesPart B: How does this impact you as an early childhood educator? Your response should be specific and demonstrate that you can make links from the theoretical bases (readings) to the practical situation (your centre’s practice). Here you should make some connections with current professional documents (for example, NQS EYLF in Australia). 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