Appraise Theories for Teaching and Learning

Task 1. Create or modify a WebQuest for what you consider to be the most important events, beliefs, theories, and people that have                      had an impact on early childhood education.

          Events and Beliefs of Early Childhood Education

• Martin Luther 1500's- Luther believed that young children should be taught to read so they could read the Bible and thus       become closer to their religion (Duffy, 2014). Reading to young children is still a major factor in early childhood                     education today.
• John Locke late 1600's- early 1700's Locke believed children were born with a blank slate in which their experiences   created their knowledge and learning (Duffy, 2014).
• Jean-Jaques Rousseau Mid 1700's He believed that children learned in a natural way, incorporating light, comfortable       setting, bright colors, soft seating (Duffy, 2014). This is an popular way of setting up early childhood classrooms today.
• Mary Wollstonecraft Late 1700's Wollstonecraft believed that everybody had a write to an education, especially women       (Duffy,2014). This belief led to programs like Head Start that allow children from low socioeconomic backgrounds to                participate in preschool programs
•  Robert Owen 1816 Owen believed a utopian environment would create well-behaved and educated children. He worked   to improve health, education, well-being and rights of the working class ( Duffy, 2014).
•  Friedrich Froebel Mid 1800's He created the first kindergartens and believed children needed to be in an environment   with an educator to guide them (Duffy, 2014). We still have kindergartens today.
•  Margarethe Schurz 1856 She brought Froebel's kindergarten to the United States (Duffy, 2014).
•  Elizabeth Peabody 1860 She opened the first English speaking kindergarten.
•  Susan Blow 1873 Opened the first public kindergarten in the United States (Duffy, 2014).
•  Sputnik went into space in 1958, it prompted the United States to offer a better education to its children in the subjects   of science, technology, engineering and math.  This brought about the National Defense Education Act that introduce federal   government in setting goals for educating children in America (Duffy, 2014).  STEM is used in curriculums today.
•  The Civil Rights Act implemented in1964 allowed for all children to benefit from an education regardless of race, religion or   socioeconomic status (Duffy, 2014).
•  Head Start 1965- This program allows children from low socioeconomic backgrounds to participate in preschool   programs (Duffy, 2014).

          Important Theorists

• Friedrich Froebel 1782-1852 Froebel considered the whole child’s, health, physical development, the environment, emotional well-being, mental ability, social relationships and spiritual aspects of development as important. Drawing on his mathematical and scientific knowledge Froebel developed a set of gifts (wooden blocks 1-6) and introduced occupations, (including sticks, clay, sand, slates, chalk, wax, shells, stones, scissors, paper folding). It seems appropriate to mention Froebel's gifts and occupations in conjunction with this new course. Particularly as the gifts and occupations are open-ended and can be used to support children’s self initiated play (Early education journal, vol. (91) 2020).
• Lev Vygotsky 1896-1934 His theory was children scaffold learning from their experiences, and with the assistance of an adult. He also created the concept of the "zone of proximal development" which means children can learn independently or in conjunction with a peer or adult (Morrison, 2014).
• Reggio Emilia 1920-1994 Is an early childhood educational program named for the town in Italy where it originated. The method emphasizes a child’s relationships with family, peers, teachers, and the wider community; small-group interaction; schedules set by the child’s personal rhythms; and visual arts programs coordinated by a specially trained atelierista or teacher (Morrison, 2014).
• Maslow 1943-1954 He established the "hierarchy of needs five-stage model pyramid ". This model consists of ones psychological needs, safety, love and belonging, esteem and self-actualization. Maslow theorized that ounce the basic need was met then a person would move on up the pyramid, but later suggested the needs were more fluid depending on situations (McLeod, 2018).
• Erik Erickson 1958-1963 Erikson maintained that personality develops in a predetermined order through eight stages of psychosocial development, from infancy to adulthood. During each stage, the person experiences a psychosocial crisis which could have a positive or negative outcome for personality development (McLeod, 2018). 

Task 2. Incorporate all 7 aspects of a Web Quest these include an introduction, tasks, process, evaluation, conclusion, credits and                         teacher page.