Approaches to Early Childhood Education Essay Example

the school curriculum as well as respect for every child. For example, the Montessori teachers help and motivate children to develop confidence and perform a vital role of an unobtrusive director similar to the Reggio teachers who ensure an artful balancing amid the children’s engagement and attention. Both approaches also embrace the involvement of parents. For example, it is critical for the Montessori teachers to develop positive rapport with the parents to facilitate successful reduction of fears and to celebrate competence of their children. Comparably, in the Reggio Emilia approach, parents are regarded as active stakeholders, collaborators as well as advocate for their kids (Lewin-Benham, 2011).

Differences

The Montessori and Reggio Emilia approaches portray noteworthy differences in terms of philosophy, curriculum, and involvement of family and community. For instance, the theoretical basis of Montessori approach is the indeed the philosophy as well as beliefs of Maria Montessori. It reflects the theoretical affinity with the European educational philosophers like Rousseau, Seguin, and Itard. Maria strongly believed in every child’s natural intelligence ranging from rational, empirical as well as spiritual aspects (Lewin-Benham, 2011). However, the philosophical aspect of the Reggio Emilia approach is based significantly on Piaget, constructivism and Dewey. It reflects exclusively on constructivism along with co-constructivism. This approach was developed by Loris Malaguzzi. Reggio Emilia draws image of the children, social from birth, exceptional intelligence and curiosity. The theoretical aspect of this approach is that education that is based on the relations often concentrates greatly on all children in terms of other kids, and intends to enhance and support every child’s reciprocal rapport with the entire children’s population, teachers, learning environment and society (Christensen, Feeney & Moravcik,

2013).

Additionally, the Reggio Emilia approach focuses significantly on a self-guided curriculum that is implemented for the preschool and kindergarten classrooms. Students learn the established curriculum mainly through explorations moreover projects in order to tailor the learning process to their interests. Contrarily, the Montessori curriculum is set on what children must learn. The Reggio-inspired learning curriculum is mainly developed by the teachers and children teamwork, particularly in a co-learning context. The two approaches also engage family and community differently and with distinct purposes. In the Montessori Method, the entire school community including the parents often collaborate in order to open their children to the imperative incorporation of body, mind, spirit as well as emotions (Dodd-Nufrio, 2011). Nonetheless, the social relations in the Reggio Emilia institutions are the fabric ones where anything else is perceived as woven. Teachers usually develops an outstanding community, which embraces the parents’ specific skills. The social relations outrun the classrooms in order to reach out the entire community and the children’s families.

Controversies

Both Montessori and Reggio Emilia approaches have varying controversies. For example, the Montessori approach is believed to be extremely structured such that it does not grant children their vital freedom and creativity. However, this is a horrible misconception because the Montessori environment permits children to enjoy paramount freedom such as choosing any material that one prefers most (Dodd-Nufrio, 2011). Besides, some individuals claim that Montessori discourages teamwork amid children, though this is certainly untrue since all kids between the levels of 3 and 6 usually work together, and between the levels of 6 and 9, and 9 to 12, teamwork is highly encouraged in small groupings (Dodd-Nufrio, 2011). The controversy of

Reggio Emilia is that the approach is time consuming, as it is extensive and a complicated method to put into practice without a larger figure of adults. This is indeed an awful misconception since teachers often set sufficient time for developing constructive relations hence assisting them in understanding all the children’s interests moreover their learning styles.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the noteworthy similarities and differences of the Montessori and Reggio Emilia approaches occurs in terms of philosophy, curriculum, parents’ involvement, environmental set-up and role of staffs. These approaches work effectively since all teachers and stakeholders recognize their crucial obligations, and engage families and community accordingly. However, Reggio Emilia can efficiently be implemented by embracing teachers’ certification to facilitate a successful curriculum development and to thwart chaotic in the classrooms whilst the Montessori Method can be implemented by employing affordable sanctioned materials and furniture to ensure efficient alleviation of unnecessary costs. Embracing staff development by establishing comprehensive training programs and conferences will facilitate exclusive implementation of the Reggio method. Montessori uses an exceptional curriculum, which has materials for all children in each topic ranging from infancy to middle school, and this will enhance its implementation since the involved staffs will only purchase the most affordable and necessary materials.

References

1. Christensen, D., Feeney, S., & Moravcik, E. (2013). Who am I in the lives of children?. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall.
2. Dodd-Nufrio, A. (2011, October). Reggio Emilia, Maria Montessori, and John Dewey: Dispelling Teachers' Misconceptions and Understanding Theoretical Foundations. Early Childhood Education Journal. pp. 235-237.
3. Lewin-Benham, A. (2011). Twelve best practices for early childhood education: Integrating Reggio and other inspired approaches. New York: Teachers College Press.