Programme Planning for Infants and Toddlers.

Item request has been placed! ×
Item request cannot be made. ×
loading   Processing Request
Read Online Read More Add to Saved list
  • Author(s): Hutchins, Teresa; Sims, Margaret
  • Language:
    English
  • Publication Date:
    2000
  • Document Type:
    Guides - Non-Classroom
    Information Analyses
    Speeches/Meeting Papers
  • Additional Information
    • Peer Reviewed:
      N
    • Source:
      22
    • Subject Terms:
      Anthropology; Attachment Behavior; Caregiver Child Relationship; Child Caregivers; Day Care; Infant Care; Infants; Models; Parent Caregiver Relationship; Play; Preschool Education; Theories; Toddlers
    • Abstract:
      Caring for infants and toddlers has long been conceptualized in Western society as mothers' work, and consequently devalued. Alternative care for infants and toddlers has lacked a knowledge base like that undergirding preschool education. Factors impeding research on infant/toddler care include strong ideological opposition to nonmaternal care, the custodial tradition of child care, and the medical model used for training caregivers. The lack of a coherent knowledge base has resulted in a dearth of suitable language to describe the essential features of infant/toddler care programs. Language drawn from medical and educational models lack appropriate metaphors for the caring relationship at the heart of infant/toddler care. Anthropology provides a suitable framework for examining the work of infant and toddler caregivers which emphasizes the processes of care. When the caregiving relationship represents the core around which the curriculum is constructed, the knowledge base becomes clear--research and literature examining the importance of relationships to infant and toddler development and that relating to how infants and toddlers make sense of their place in the world. Metaphors from this research can help caregivers better understand and talk about what they do. Three curriculum frameworks for infants and toddlers may be incorporated: (1) attachment; (2) caregiving; and (3) play. Planning for infants and toddlers begins with the participant observation characteristic of anthropology, with such observations used to develop a picture of the strengths and interests of very young children. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (A. Maslow, 1970) may be used as a framework to identify needs. The summary of strengths, interests, and needs may be used to develop a program plan based on the relevant curriculum framework. (Contains 52 references.) (KB)
    • Publication Date:
      2001
    • Accession Number:
      ED453940
HoldingsOnline