Home Search Sitemap Contact Bookmark

Free Dissertations - Education Dissertations

According To Roberts-holmes (2005), Within Society Children Are Holistically ...

According to Roberts-Holmes (2005), Within society children are holistically influenced by the type of early childhood setting (p.5). However, under the pressure of social and legal changes, educators and other adults who interact with children experience certain complexities; moreover, every child responds to the adult interaction in the outside environment in an individual way.
In view of these factors, researchers make constant attempts to assess the child-adult interaction and reveal the circumstances under which this interaction is more beneficial to preschool children. Although the findings of these studies are usually contradictory, it is obvious that the positive adult interaction inspires children's curiosity and willingness to learn from the outdoor environment. While adults should be able to rightfully interact with children in spontaneous plays, it is also crucial for educators and caregivers to plan activities for preschool children. Such pre-planned activities provide children with an opportunity to develop physical and intellectual skills; however, successful learning in the outdoor environment greatly depends on the skills of adults to diversify the outside setting.

As is stated in the Early Learning Goals, A significantly high proportion of learning takes place from birth to age six. It is a time when children particularly need high quality care and learning experiences (QCA/DfEE, 1999 p.4). It is also a period when certain differences occur between boys and girls; in particular, girls seem to quietly follow adults' rules, while boys seem to reject them. In the interaction with adults girls prefer turn-taking activities and communication, while boys prefer to initiate conflicts and oppose negotiation. However, this is only a generalisation; in reality, differences between boys and girls are not so vivid. Nevertheless, it is necessary for educators to take these differences into account when they interact with preschool children in the outdoor environment.
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Historical background
Since the 1870s and until the 80-90s of the 20th century the British educational system had paid little attention to the importance of the interaction between adults and children in the outdoor environment. According to the 1870 Education Act, children's education was conducted only in the indoor setting and was based on the principles of obedience, compliance and tough timetables. No wonder that, following such principles, educators considered the outdoor play as insignificant, as the activity that had nothing to do with learning. Although in the past children played outdoors more than contemporary generations, they did it away from the educational setting.


Thanks