Early Childhood
Education &
Who is an early
childhood educator?
What does an early
childhood educator do?
As Early Childhood Educators,
we need to know how
young children learn…
So how do young
children
learn and develop?
Urie Bronfenbrenner’s
Ecological Systems Theory
Analogous to a set of nesting dolls –
each acting autonomously but
operating as a unit when put together
 Children’s development is within the context of a
system of relationships that shape their
environment
 Social and cultural contexts which are intertwined
- immediate family, extended family, educational
setting, community, and broader society
Where do libraries and museums reside
in this system?
Jean Piaget’s CognitiveDevelopmental Theory
 Piaget was most interested in how a child learns something.
 Children construct their knowledge (Constructivism) by giving
their own meaning to the places, people, and objects in their
world
 Knowledge construction is only possible by giving children
every opportunity to do things for themselves.
 Children’s curiosity propels the learning and play as an
avenue of learning.

Schema – organizing structures that people use for cognition or to
guide behavior.
Jean Piaget’s CognitiveDevelopmental Theory
Jean Piaget’s CognitiveDevelopmental Theory
Educators use of more advanced concrete materials
and visual aids – artifacts, diagrams, graphs,
graphic organizers, informational text structures,
and real problems to solve.
How do libraries and museums support
young children’s “schema building”?
Constructing
Knowledge
Through Interaction
Lev Vygotsky’s
Sociocultural Theory
• Personal and social experience – shaped by
families, communities, education,
socioeconomic status, and culture – cannot
be separated from learning and development.
• Children learn primarily through their
relationships with other people, chiefly in their
dialogue with each other and with a more
knowledgeable “expert” – adult or peer.
Lev Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory (1896-1934)
The Zone of Proximal Development
 The zone of proximal development is the distance
between the most difficult task a child can do
independently (actual level of learning) and the most
difficult task a child can do with assistance (potential level
of learning).
Lev Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
The Zone of Proximal Development
How can libraries and museums provide
opportunities which scaffold the learning of
young children?
Group
Conversations
with Expert Peers
Thinking Larger
Contexts