Page 233 - DEDU501_DEVELOPMENT_OF_EDUCATION_SYSTEM_ENGLISH

Unit 25 : Teacher Education at Various Levels, Emerging Trends in Teacher Education

25.2 Teacher Education for Early Childhood Stage Notes

The need for early childhood education has long been emphasised on the argument that it
would lead to providing healthy and wholesome learning environment. It is also considered as
a preparatory stage for the realisation of Universalisation of Elementary Education. In order to
provide healthy and enriched childhood to young learners, a new type of teacher specifically
sensitized about the perspectives of child development will be required.
25.2.1 Specific Objectives : The objectives of teacher education specific to
early childhood include the following:
• to prepare teachers for facilitating physical, mental, moral, social, aesthetic and linguistic
development of children
• to acquaint them with the knowledge of child psychology
• to cultivate social sensitivity, affection for children and respect for their uniqueness
• to acquaint them with techniques of caring for children and enable them to identify their
needs
• to provide experiences and organise activities that promote children's self-concept, creativity
and inventiveness
• to enable them to select, prepare and use different kinds of resource materials
• to develop a sense of involvement with and appreciation of local resources (human and
material) and their utilisation
• to develop an acquaintance with basics of Scientific and Technological Literacy
• to develop a repertoire of children's games, songs and literature
•to empower student-teachers towards creating learning readiness among young learners
25.2.2 Curriculum Framework
The framework given here is suggestive and not a prescriptive one. It has considerable space
for flexibility, innovation and use of locally available community resources. The following
curriculum framework is suggested for formulating a Plan of Action for developing programmes
and activities, devising strategies of negotiating the curricular inputs and methods of obtaining
feed-back. These are pre-requisites for improving the interaction processes directed towards the
realisation of optimum enrichment of experiences at the early childhood stage.
Inclusion of the following components of theory and practice are suggested:
Theory
• Emerging Indian Society
• Early Childhood Education: Scope, Nature, Status, Problems and Issues.
• Psychology of the Child and Learning during early years (implementing developmentally
appropriate curriculum).
• Planning, management and administration of ECCE programmes
• Methods and Materials for facilitating the growth and development of pre-school child
through activities for:
• Physical development
• Mental development
• Emotional development
• Aesthetic development
• Language development
• Social development
• Moral development

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 227