Appraise Theories for Teaching and Learning

   This WebQuest is a highlight of the most important events, beliefs, theories and people that have had an impact on early childhood education. These theorists made great contributions to early education that are still relevant in the classroom today. The theorists are the contributors of the standards of early childhood education; such as Luther, Comenius, Locke, Rousseau and Owens. Froebel is the theorist I attribute with discovering kindergarten, and since he started the first kindergarten back in the 1830s, and I will give him this recognition as having an impact that is still being felt today in the educational realm, There are others that impacted early childhood education; for instance, Piaget, Erikson, Gardner, Vygotsky, Montessori, Prestalozzi, Bronfenbrenner, and Dewey are all theorists that contributed to the development of early childhood education. Without their beliefs and theories this could be a less effective education standard. Piaget, Vygotsky and Erikson are among the major developmental theorists in educational psychologist.

The objective of this WebQuest is to show how the different theorist's contribution impacted the early childhood education in different ways. It will provide the knowledge needed to understand the severity of the different concepts that is clearly shown in these theories. At the end of this WebQuest each of these theorists will be given the credit they deserves. When asking the "Essential Question" how can the information in this WebQuest be beneficial to finding the essence of early childhood education?

Task 1-What are all the necessary components of a true WebQuest?

The components of a WebQuest consists of Six essential parts, which are necessary to make it true. They are as follows: The introduction, Task, Process, Evaluation, Conclusion, Credits and the Teacher page. These concepts are what makes a true WebQuest.

Task 2: How the different components affected the role of contemporary early childhood educators?

A.  Event: The events that has affected the role of the contemporary early childhood educators that are still felt in the classroom today. The beginning moments that changed public education are as follows:

   a.  1886 Plessy Vs Ferguson brought out that which seem to have power and when the Supreme Court ruled, separate but equal. The ruling seem to have missed the purpose that was expected.

    b. 1954: Brown Vs Board of Education, is when the decision reversed Plessy Vs Ferguson with the ruling of separate but not equal. This ruling pushed this concept back into the Supreme Court with a different outcome (Daniells, nd).                        

     c. 1990: Individuals with disabilities Act (IDEA) These children had to be tested before they could be placed on the list of needing special attention. This act gave all individuals the right to a free public education in an environment that has no restrictions. This began what is known as inclusion into the mainstream classroom (Daniells, nd).

      d.  2001: No Child Left Behind Act, increases the funding for education and brought in the Standards based reform, and some argued that it has made testing the focus of education. It seem that the educators must now teach to the test which is called "standardized" and these tests decides how the child's education will be affected (Daniells, nd).

       e.   2009: Common Core State Standards Initiative, which became a challenge to all concerned. In a time of high stake testing it will affect the administrators and the teachers who will feel the pressures, who will need to change their approach to how they will teach. Teachers of core subjects, and those who teach in specialized areas, such as music and art. These specialists must find ways to fulfill their role to bridge the gap. Students will benefit most from the Common Core Standards, and the parental involvement must increase to help the student to be successful. Politicians, Higher education, and members of the community, the stakeholder, those that have invested in the success of the children (Meador 2017).

 B. Belief: I have chosen four theorist to access their beliefs:

   1.  Friedrich Froebel: He held to the belief that at the interruption of the conscience is when learning begins, and is when education will begin to evolve. Known to have began the first kindergarten, so the children could be educated. Froebel compared the children to a flower garden, this is how he saw the nurture of those young people (Leech, 2009-2018).

   2. Jean Piaget: His belief is from his days as a teacher that educators are more than mere knowledge transmitters, but this form of communication coupled with observation and guidance which will bring aid to the children while developing their own knowledge. His theories laid the foundation for us to understand the development of the normal child (Leech, 2009-2018).    

   3. John Dewey: Dewey's belief altered what others believed about school, because he had the belief that school would affect the child's socioeconomic status. His beliefs is that education is not the process of learning, but a "process of living" and having nothing to do with future existence. 

    4.  Howard Gardner: Gardner believed that teachers and educators should build their thinking on the concept of intelligence.

C. There are early childhood educators who had great influence over early childhood education. Their influences have come from the ideas they employed to be beneficial to the children, especially the early learners. These theorists spans over a period of Three centuries (Bailey 2017).Find the theories:

• Theory: Luther: Universal education; Literacy;

                       Locke: Children's mind is a blank

                       Froebel: Developed a curriculum and methodology

                       Montessori: The Montessori Method

                       Dewey: The progressive education movement

                        Piaget: Cognitive developmental

                        Vygotsky: sociocultural 

                        Gardner: Unitary intelligence

                         Erikson: Behavioral Child Development

         People: There are people that are affecting the role of the contemporary early childhood educators and we must understand that this is a broad range of concepts. The biggest challenge for the teacher is the lack of the parents participation in their children's education, which falls on the shoulders of the teacher to fill the gap. When we look back and see how the administrators, school boards, federal entities, the ones that control funding for these programs, will have to claim their share of this burden. Now the teachers must make do with what they have. funding have been cut about 6.3 million dollars. According to  Spreenwenberg (2015) who speaks of the misalignment between expectations and resources that have created the challenge for early childhood education.

In the process of researching these theorists, use the different weblinks to find each contribution and what it covered. These theorists centered their theories on education. There are specific steps to follow in order to get the information needed.

                                                   RESOURCES

Materials used in this WebQuest:

Computer

Printer

Step 1:

These are the theories that impacted education and is still affecting education in today's learning environments.

Luther's Educational Theory: http://www.newfoundations.com/GALLERY/Luther.html

Locke's Educational Theory: http://www.newfoundations.com/GALLERY/Locke.html

Froebel's Web: http://www.froebelweb.org/images/Froebel.html

Piaget's Educational Theory: http://learningandteaching.info/learning/piaget.htm 

Vygotsky Educational Theory: http://www.newfoundations.com/GALLERY/Vygotsky.html 

Gardner's Educational Theory: http://www.newfoundations.com/GALLERY/Gardner.html

 There are other websites that will give pertinent information to this project (Bailey, February 14, 2014).

                                      Beginning                    Developing                        Accomplished                           Exemplary                         Score                                                                          1                                     2                                                3                                                 4

I   Introduction     No introduction present     introduction lacking        Introduction clear                 Introduction well thought out      

2 Task            Task Incomplete                 Task lacking and unclear      Task is interesting                  Engaging activity

3. Process      Process not complete         Section lacking/unclear        Need additional strategies     Extremely clear

4. Evaluation   Not complete                        Expectations not clear          Information appropriate         Extremely clear

5. Conclusion   Does not affirm learning       More attention/wording      Summarizes adequately          Summarizes beautifully 

We have made it through the entire WebQuest and I am capable of naming the Theorist and most of all am able to venture into their works that has impacted education from then until now. We can now discuss what events, how beliefs, theory and people have affected the role of the educators in the early childhood education. 

The information contained in this WebQuest is very relevant to the teaching of early childhood education which includes the inclusion of children with disabilities. The theorists had to try different approaches in their quest to find a problem solver for our children. As educators we must try different strategies to make sure they are working for the children. We must learn how to incorporate these concepts into building a framework that will help the children be successful in their education. Doing a WebQuest of this type has really taught me that you must be prepared to work and research. This has been a learning experience and I hope this will last with me.

                                                            References

Bailey, M (2017) Fifteen visionary educators and theorists whose ideas have influenced early 

          childhood education: Index of professional resources Retrieved from

           http://fg.ed.pacificu.edu/bailey/resources/index

Dean, R. (nd) Create WebQuest; MLIS, MED, San Jose state University, school

              of information.

Daniells, L (nd) 10 historical events that shaped public education Retrieved from

             http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/10-history-events

James, R (Feb 2014) Timeline: Moments that changed public education: Some important events that 

              impacted schooling in America: Retrieved from http://today.msnbc.msn.com

               http://www.collinsblaha.com/pdfs/education-reform/timeline 

Leech, C (2009-2018) Top pioneers in education Teachhub News, lessons & shared resources by 

                 teachers, for teachers  Retrieved from www.teachhub.com 

Lipoff, S (2011) Funderstanding, inspiring people who care about learning  Retrieved from

                http://www.funderstanding.com/educators/history-of...

Meador, D (Mar 18, 2017) Impact of the common core standards    Retrieved from

Morrison, G. S. (2014) Fundamentals of early childhood education pp72-73

NOTE: The single space would not work in this WebQuest. 

While building this WebQuest I came across a lot of learning processes where I had to rethink what I thought and use what was dealt to me. This has been my most tedious work and I will continue to search to find things that will help me in the future.