Culturised Early Childhood Development. The Well-being and Healthy Development of Young Boys and Girls
This book argues that the worldwide trend of turning children into ‘early learners’at ever younger ages is detrimental to their well-being and healthy development.Instead, ECD – Early Childhood Education efforts should foremost be a ‘culturising’endeavour.
Culturised ECD is here seen as an enjoyable and wholesome process that challengesand engages children. It fosters their curiosity and eagerness to be active andto explore, enables them to use their faculties, talents and skills, and contributesto their development as well-rounded persons since it helps them in valuing, searchingfor, finding, contributing to and creating beauty and meaning in life as well asappreciating the connectedness of things organic and inorganic. It also engenderschildren with hope and “the audacious attempt to galvanize and energize, to inspireand to invigorate world-weary people”. It is the totality of those activities that enablesyoung boys and girls to participate in things that are meaningful, pleasing andgood. It recognises that ECD is all-encompassing and should therefore be muchmore than providing children with ‘schooling’.
The following issues are addressed, culturised ECD and its:
- effect on the well-being of children; this regardless of their future, inside oroutside the school or employment market
- impact on the longer-term development of children; do they become moreresilient, experience fewer obstacles when enrolling in formal basic educationand when adults, will they fare better, socially and economically?
- relevance when faced with such ‘hot topics’ as violence, discrimination andsocial exclusion of children.
- contribution to reducing poverty and inequality, or helping young boys andgirls, both as children and later as adults, to cope with both.
Culturised Early Childhood Development. The Well-being and Healthy Development of Young Boys and Girls
This book argues that the worldwide trend of turning children into ‘early learners’at ever younger ages is detrimental to their well-being and healthy development.Instead, ECD – Early Childhood Education efforts should foremost be a ‘culturising’endeavour.
Culturised ECD is here seen as an enjoyable and wholesome process that challengesand engages children. It fosters their curiosity and eagerness to be active andto explore, enables them to use their faculties, talents and skills, and contributesto their development as well-rounded persons since it helps them in valuing, searchingfor, finding, contributing to and creating beauty and meaning in life as well asappreciating the connectedness of things organic and inorganic. It also engenderschildren with hope and “the audacious attempt to galvanize and energize, to inspireand to invigorate world-weary people”. It is the totality of those activities that enablesyoung boys and girls to participate in things that are meaningful, pleasing andgood. It recognises that ECD is all-encompassing and should therefore be muchmore than providing children with ‘schooling’.
The following issues are addressed, culturised ECD and its:
- effect on the well-being of children; this regardless of their future, inside oroutside the school or employment market
- impact on the longer-term development of children; do they become moreresilient, experience fewer obstacles when enrolling in formal basic educationand when adults, will they fare better, socially and economically?
- relevance when faced with such ‘hot topics’ as violence, discrimination andsocial exclusion of children.
- contribution to reducing poverty and inequality, or helping young boys andgirls, both as children and later as adults, to cope with both.