Socialization in Kindergartens - Essay Example

Kindergarten Socialization Introduction This paper is a critical review essay that targets the article by Harry L. G Learning the Role: Kindergarten as an Academic Boot Camp and Egertson, H, A: The Shifting Kindergarten Curriculum. Harry view kindergarten as a year of preparation for school. The year in which small children, around five to six years old are prepared socially and emotionally for the academic learning which will take place over the next twelve years. Therefore, according to Harry, the learning structure is expected to lay a foundation of behavior and attitudes to facilitate acquisition of skills and knowledge they will be taught in the higher grades. (p62) Egertson, on the other hands focuses his attention on the injustices of the shifting of curriculum away from the child-centered approach to academic centered. He agrees with Harry that kindergarten should be a foundation level in which a child is prepared socially, emotionally and physically. This in turn will facilitate child development. He laments the current trends where by adults expectations to the child are given first priority over the interest of the child development. As a result the kindergarten schools have introduced "transition classes" (par.6) that have been both traumatic and disruptive to the child growth and development. Similarities Both writers share a common concern; the concern about the need to make kindergarten a child development center rather than a place to prepare them for studentship in higher grades. Harry noted the expectations of both parents and staff in a Wright School kindergarten. According to the parents and staff, kindergarten experience help the child find an opportunity for physical growth that will satisfy his/her needs for "self expressions". In short the kindergarten experience would provide the child with an opportunity to grow happily and purposely with others... (p62) On the other hand, Egerson sees the parents and kindergarten staff expectations as the prime reason why the kindergarten curriculum keeps on shifting. This he argues has compromised the child socio-psychological development at kindergarten level. Egertson argues that, socialization process in a kindergarten should be the prime driving force behind the curriculum development of a kindergarten school. He further emphasis that, the responsibility of developing the child development oriented curriculum lays in the hands adults (parents and Staff). According to Harry, as much as parents and staff of Wright school agree with this, the parents and school have a responsibility to tailor a kindergarten environment in order to help the kids to develop a socially acceptable behavior. The goal of kindergarten school should be to help children "grow" in all ways: physically, emotionally, socially and academically. (p62) Harry observed that, teaching and learning of classroom routines is the main element of the student role. Kindergarten teachers spend almost the first half of the year in training the children to follow routines which teachers create. Children are drilled to tasks and activities created by teachers. These tasks and activities have to be done rigidly and repeatedly until the child knows exactly what he/she is supposed to do. (p63). Egerson notes the same trend when he argues that, most of parents view the kindergarten as the transition level where the child is prepared for higher grades. This he says have made some parents to delay their children until they acquire certain age that they deem is appropriate for their children to perform well. Harry was concerned with the lack of full involvement of children in formulating the tasks and activities. According to her, all the activities she observed in the Wright school which applies to other kindergarten schools were made by adults for the children. She was particularly concerned with the way children were made to follow familiar sounds during singing rather than helping the children follow familiar words in the "my country song". (p66). Though, this method seems to achieve its goal of student role: that is to follow orders and rules without question, it denies the child the freedom to choose what to do. In this line of argument, Egertson sees the enforcement of student role in a kindergarten school as the contributing factor towards the establishment of "transition classes" and "academic centered" learning system over the "child centered" learning. This involves the retention of kids in kindergarten for an extra year against their will. The child is not involved in deciding whether to be retained or not; the retention decision is all made by adults without the interest of child at hand. The research carried out shows that retention has little effect on improving child performance. A retained child will do as good and even worse as a newcomer in the class. Those who are allowed to proceed to the next grade end up doing just fine since this is a matter of child development. (Egertson par.7). Egertson proposes that, kindergarten schools should develop a curriculum based on individual child ability and needs. 1 The thrust of Egertson and Harry articles similarities is that, for a positive child development, the kindergarten curriculum should be tailored to accommodate the child development needs. This they say should facilitate physical, social as well as mental growth. They are against the adults imposed routine environment that leaves little room for the child to be creative and to choose what to do. Differences Egertson is concerned with the shifts in kindergarten curriculum that tends to move away from play and group adjustment-oriented settings to classrooms settings. According to Egertson, the academic centered curriculum denies the child an opportunity to learn life skills such as relating to others and positive attitude towards life. This is because, academic-centered concentrate on abstract subjects like Mathematics, which are in most cases above the child understanding. This has made many kindergarten teachers and parents to resort in retention of children until an older age which he/she can be able to grasp the content of the subject taught. (Egertson, par1). On the other hand, Harry is concerned with the kindergarten setting which is aimed at training a child for student role in higher grades. Harry compare the rigid routines and tasks imposed by staff and parents (adults) on the children to an army training camp (Boot Camp) where one is expected to follow orders without questions. Harry says this is detrimental to the child early socialization process. While Egertson seems contented with older approach where children were trained skills for life, he fails to realize that, even in the child centered approach, the child was limited to adult's controlled environment. This was the main concern of Harry when lamenting on the lack of child discretion on what to do and how to do it. In Harry expositions, the element of kindergarten socialization is very conspicuous. According to Harry, the child early socialization is characterized by observation, role modeling, and mimicking of the adults behaviour. On the other hand, Egertson only mention the importance of kindergarten curriculum that allows child social development. He however does not mention what this social development entails. Interestingly, Harry gives a positive note to the system. When she say, "...A look at the modern life and bureaucratic organizational set up, the child get acquainted to bureaucratic systems that involves routines that have to be adhered to day in day out. In this point of view, kindergarten can be seen as preparing student for participation in the large- occupational bureaucracies of modern society"(p67) In contrast, Egertson lament the imposition of skills and tasks in order to make students of kindergarten to perform as the reason behind escalating kindergarten curriculum. Parents and kindergarten staff go a long way in formulating tasks and routines that would make the child perform academically. This according to Egertson has shifted the original kindergarten curriculum objectives of child development to academic performance orientations that negatively affect child development. Conclusion From the above analysis it is clear that a small child in a kindergarten uses observation as their main way of "socialization". The kindergarten child learn through observation, the teacher have to teach children by use of visual aids like charts, motion pictures and actions. The child observes an event or an activity and repeats it. This is done over and over until the child is able do it alone. Kindergarten children are great imitators; the children will try to imitate what they have observed from their teacher and do it. This way, they will be in a good position to memorize the events. The children are taught how to relate to others. During rest time for example, the children are not supposed to make noise since others are resting. This help the child realize that she/he is not living in isolation but in a community with others. I do agree with Harry that, student at kindergarten should not be made to learn student role through school -imposed routines and adult oriented physical arrangements of the room. This will deprive the child room for his/her creativity and this will be detrimental in the child development. However, I do quite agree with Harry that social structure created by Edith is a powerful and subtle force for fitting a student role.(p66) In advocating for a 'real shifts in kindergarten curriculum', the current trends shows that, spontaneous interests or observations from the children are never inculcated by the kindergarten teacher. This limits children to only adults like socialization without letting "children be children" 2The socialization process in kindergarten seems to be controlled by adults (staff and parents). Most of the routines and task make no sense at all to the child and that which can make sense to the child are ignored. This is detrimental to the child development. References Egertson, H, A 1987, "The Shifting Kindergarten Curriculum", ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education, Urbana IL. Harry L, G. 2004, "Learning the Student Role: Kindergarten as Boot Camp", In Webber, Michelle and Kate Bezanson, Rethinking Society in the 21st Century: Critical Readings in Sociology, Canadian Scholar's Press. Shepard, L, A. - Smith, M, L, 1989, "Escalating Kindergarten Curriculum" ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education, Urbana IL. Read More