Contributor to Early Childhood Education - Margaret McMillan - Report Example

Running head: Contributor to early childhood care and education Contributor to early childhood education Margaret McMillan (1860-1931) A number of people have put in their efforts to increase awareness about early childhood care and education. Margaret McMillan (1860-1931) is a pioneer in the early 20th century who stressed the importance of early childhood care and contributed to the development of under privileged children through her work and books. Margaret McMillan was born to James and Jean McMillan, immigrants from Scotland and settled in Westchester County in New York, U.S. in the year 1860. She lost her father at the age of five and hence moved back to their native Iverness in Scotland with her mother and elder sister Rachel McMillan. Both were fond of reading books. At this young age, Margaret’s first encounter with the schools in Iverness left a lasting impression in her mind. The children were given Corporal punishment for bad behaviours; basic sanitation, water facilities and hygiene were not maintained in the class rooms and in the surroundings. Except academics importance was not given to other aspects of child development either physical or emotional. This resulted in an insecure feeling and stress in the children. Where the place of learning should be a pleasant one, it proved to be opposite for children. Margaret McMillan was deeply disturbed by this and could recall all these even at her old age. This also would have made her to work for the welfare of children when she faced young ones living in similar conditions at a later age .Jean McMillan who was very keen that the children got good education and worked hard to meet that goal died when Margaret was 17 years old. Margaret McMillan moved to London to train as a Governess for young girls and her sister stayed back for filial commitment towards their ailing grandmother. Margaret McMillan started working as a Superintendent for young girls in London. Around this time her sister Rachel also moved to London and stated to work in similar job. Prior to this Rachel McMillan got introduced to the Christian Socialist movement and got impressed and convinced with their principles. She started reading the groups newspaper Justice and liked the articles written for the young By Peter Kropotkin. She contributed to the socialist magazine. When she joined her sister in London in the year 1888, she convinced Margaret McMillan to join the Socialists. From this time on Rachel McMillan remained as great influence to her sister throughout her life. They both started attending the Socialist meetings and met important people in the group namely William Morris, Peter Kropotkin, and H.M.Hyndman who were instrumental in bringing the changes in the girls. Moved with their plight, they decided that basic education and awareness would enhance the lives of these people. They approached young working girls and offered to teach them in the evenings. Though the girls were not convinced, they attended the classes. But soon Margaret found out that they were not serious about learning and were coming for a sort of relaxation. The girls endured a very hard life at that young age and the hardships they suffered had completely changed their personalities. In 1892 the sisters shifted to Braford, the place which later came to be associated with Margaret McMillan’s contribution to nursery education. Here they toured the industrial work places extensively to meet the people and could see the conditions of the children first hand. The infants and toddlers of the workers were totally neglected, child labour was prevalent and basic sanitation facilities were not available. Children were deprived of any medical facilities too. Here apart from the socialist movement, the sisters were drawn towards the Fabian movement which had an aim to construct a fair and just society with high moral values. Also they entered into politics by joining the Independent Labour Party which later helped Margaret to campaign for her goals towards the children welfare. At this stage Margaret started taking keen interest in the welfare of children of Braford schools and met Dr. James Kerr, the medical officer of Braford schools. They both carried out the medical inspection of children in the schools. The outcome shocked her and they published the plight of the children. Margaret started a campaign to improve the conditions of schools in England. She demanded basic amenities like water, sanitation and proper ventilation and free meals to be provided in the schools. She wrote several books related to these children. She wrote Child Labour and the Half time System in 1896, Early childhood in 1900, Education Through the Imagination in1904, The economic Aspects of Child Labour and Education in 1905 and The Child and the State in 1911. In her book The Child and the State she emphasized the importance of giving a broad, practical and useful education to children living in the industrial working areas rather than just preparing them for the unskilled and routine jobs. This kind of education did not help children to learn or achieve anything to realize their potential. By this time she focused all her thoughts and actions for the welfare of young children. Her triumph came in the form of passing of 1906 Provision of school meals act by the House of Commons. All children covered under the compulsory education are provided with free meals. She also got elected as a board member of Braford schools which enabled her to bring many reforms in the education sector in the region. The self cleanliness drive and the medical inspections are among the important ones. To realize her dreams of providing proper care to young children, she along with her sister Rachel McMillan started a series of school clinics between 1908 and 1910. The first one was started I Bow and followed by another in Deptford. They covered many schools in the area offering medical inspection, diagnosis, dental treatments and basic awareness about self hygiene and cleanliness. To help the working slum children they opened a night camp where they were taught about self hygiene and to help them wash and wear clean clothes. Working for the Education and the care of young children has become the passion of her life. In the year 1914, the McMillan sisters opened an open air nursery school and also a training centre at Peckham to train people willing to work for the children. Margaret McMillan was passionate about the welfare of children. She implemented many of her principles in her school. She made the school to be a place meant for providing wholesome development to children, taking care of all their needs including medical. She stated that school should be an extended home to children where they are provided with a stimulating environment Her experience with the school helped her to write many important books on the topic of nursery school education. Notable among them are The Nursery School written in 1919 and Nursery Schools: A Practical Handbook in the year 1920. She also got elected and served as a member of the London county council. Even after losing her sister in 1917 who remained a source of great support to her in all her endeavors, Margaret McMillan continued her work in her chosen field with enthusiasm and thereby created lasting influence in the field of nursery education and the care of young children. She was devoted to her work and never thought about her personal life. Even at an old age of 70, her desire to help for the society never faded and she opened a College for training nurses ands teachers in the memory of her sister Rachel McMillan. Margaret McMillan breathed her last on 29th March in the year1931. Till today she has been considered as a pioneer in the field of nursery education and remembered for her selfless contribution to education. Influence of Margaret McMillan’s principles on present day early childhood care and education The term ‘Early Childhood Care & Education’ has acquired worldwide significance thanks to the researches and efforts of pioneers in the field like Margaret McMillan, Madam Montessori and Jean Piaget. Due to the pioneering effects of persons like Margaret McMillan, proper forms of practice and code of conduct for teachers dealing with young children could be formulated. Their experience helped us to know that each child is a unique individual and her initial learning years play a crucial role in to shaping up her future personality and growth. She should be respected in terms of self, her family, cultural principles and the society to which she belongs. She should be treated as an adult in terms of developing mutual trust and respect. Margaret McMillan brought about a revolution and a new perspective to the education of young children. She stressed that the school should be an extension of home and should never be a substitute of home. She emphasized the importance of proper physical development and stimulating environment as factors towards the mental and the cognitive development of children. She also said that the teachers who handle the children should be trained in the areas of early childcare and their education. The staff should be able to understand the needs, behaviours and the developmental stages of the children. She did not have any fixed time schedule for children and allowed free access to them to the gardens and the play areas. Most of the preschools in the present day are based on the above principles of Margaret McMillan. The schools are located in a clean, calm and peaceful environment away from noise & pollution and surrounded by greenery wherever possible. The buildings are built in such a way as to allow enough natural lighting and ventilation. Drinking water and proper sanitation facilities are provided. Enough indoor and outdoor spaces are made available. Activities are designed to enhance the physical (gross motor and fine motor skills) development, social development which includes group behaviour and accepted social skills, natural curiosity, mental ability & cognitive development and the emotional development of children. Through the researches and the experiences of the people in the field of early childhood education, play as an important mode of teaching to young children has evolved. The traditional method of teaching through reading, writing and retention has given way to the more scientific, effective and proven method of play way teaching. In this children are not put in to stress to learn anything and each new idea and concept is introduced to the children through varied activities like stories, songs, picture cards and games. The preschool teachers are trained in preschool education and care of very young children. Teachers interact with the parents on a regular basis. They stress the importance of hygiene, proper nourishment of the children and the basic health awareness to the parents who are either under privileged or living in rural areas through regular meetings. The idea that a proper interaction between the parents and the teacher is necessary for the development of their children has been clearly understood. Parents are also aware of their roles in the development of children and are willing to cooperate with the teachers. The strengths & weaknesses, problems, behaviour, attitude, physical ailment etc are discussed by the parent and the teacher. Based on this proper remedial course of action if any required is carried out. Health inspection of children in the school has assumed significance. In the Pre School, the height, weight and the general health condition of the child are regularly monitored and recorded. Medical inspection of the children is carried out at least twice in a year by medical practitioners. The children are screened for dental, vision, skin and any other general health issues. The progress of the child in each area of development is recorded by the teachers. The activities designed for the child in each sphere of development- physical, emotional, mental, cognitive, social and linguistic are noted down. The interest exhibited, performance and problem if any of each child towards each activity is noted and this is done through out the year. The evaluation is based on continuous assessment of the child and the testing and examining procedures are avoided. The results obtained are analyzed and discussed with the parent. Children who show considerable slowdown in any area are given more attention to understand the cause and nature of their problem. For example if a child is not showing progress in language development corresponding to her age, then she is referred to the specialist in the field to diagnose the cause whether auditory, vocal or general cognitive trouble is the cause. These kinds of early intervention of troubles in a child’s life go a very long way in correcting the, reduce the need to go for special education later on and prevents the child with living with the problem through out the life. Importance is given to the training of personnel engaged in the care & education of very young children. Institutes offer courses to personnel in early childcare and education. Proper qualification of the personnel to work with children has become almost mandatory. Teachers are the taught the different stages of growth of children in the respect to physical and mental, associated characteristics of each stage, ways of handling the child emotionally, proper nutrition and the ways to teach them without burdening them. Earlier care of children meant looking after their physical needs and engaging them. These have changed now and the governments have realized the necessity of investing in early childhood care & education for the prosperity of the country in the future. As stated earlier, McMillan’s principle of providing a clean & healthy environment and meeting the needs of physical requirements in the early years are crucial for the intellectual development of children forms the basis of many governmental programs and policies framed for young children. Margaret McMillan campaigned to provide free meals to undernourished children. The same is being implemented in India through a noon meals scheme to all children in the school going age and education is made compulsory to all children below the age of 14 years. As noted earlier, In England, previously there was no formal education and care system for very young children .It was started by individuals like Robert Owen in the late eighteen hundreds out of humanitarian concerns for the neglected young children of the workers. But 1880, the government made the education was made compulsory for the children aged between 5 and 13 years but still no official regulation was there to cover the children below 5 years. Due to the efforts of people like McMillan, some awareness about the care of these young children started to emerge. Subsequent inspection of these children at the schools revealed that they stood to gain no benefits through that system of education and the necessity to have separate schools and education curriculum to cater to these kids was emphasized. In 1960 another type of pre school education emerged. Due to the increase in the awareness of parents about the play based pre school education for young children, there was more demand for such schools but the number of existing schools could not be increased due to governmental regulations (Cleave & Jowett, 1982). As an alternative some parents started to take care of their children along with the neighbouring kids and their parents and this was called as playgroup. This was based on the basic principle of Margaret McMillan about early child care. In spite of all the awareness about the importance of providing a proper structured curriculum and preschools for young children, there were no strict governmental regulations or policies in this regard up to 1980s. In 1996, the School Curriculum for Assessment and Authority brought about a set of goals to be achieved by the young children through the pre school education before they join the elementary schools. This was known as Desirable Outcomes for Children’s learning on Entering Compulsory Education (SCAA, 1996). In the preschools play was used the primary means to teach children and traditional ways of teaching each subject separately was abolished. Rather self initiated free play was considered as the integrating factor that would help the child to assimilate whatever has been learned (Bruce,1987).This was again based on the principle of experts like Margaret McMillan, Maria Montessori and Froebel. Though early child care and education started receiving the attention of the government policies and agenda, no national level curriculum was in place for a long time. The curriculum planning and implementation was done by local education authorities and teachers. The introduction of education reform act in 1988 changed this with framing a national level curriculum to be adopted uniformly across the country. The aims mentioned through the desirable outcomes for children’s learning was replaced with early learning goals introduced by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA, 1999) in 1999. This slightly altered the traditional approach of play based and child centered teaching in the preschools. Apart from the overall development of children in all areas, learning to read and write and attaining a certain level of proficiency in both are expected from children. The preschool age has been named as the foundation stage of children which is 3-5 years. The children at the end of five years are expected to fulfill the early learning goals. These reforms meant to improve the quality of pre school education in England. The preschool activities are based on achieving the early learning goals. Along with these more stringent inspection procedures have been introduced to check the quality of schools and their progress towards achieving the goals (OFSTED, 2001). Overall these programs, policies and their results (though they are slightly deviating from the traditional ways), only prove the vision and the efforts of persons like Margaret McMillan in the field of early childhood education. She and her sister devoted their entire life for the welfare of these children. When they started they did not have any resources except a burning passion to improve the lives and the living conditions of working class people and the children. They had to fight hard to bring about the awareness, necessity and the long term of effects of early childhood education not only to the parents but also to the people who were already in the education sector of these children. She had to work tirelessly and hard to impress upon the governing people to understand the reality and the gravity of the situation in which those children were growing and convinced them to the extent that policy changes were introduced in the education sector catering to young children which benefited the entire country. Present day early childhood educators should keep in mind the principles put forward by Margaret McMillan and her fellow pioneers and try to practice them with relentless enthusiasm, passion and sincerity. They should keep in mind that they are responsible for the shaping up the future generation who would one day determine the destiny of the nation. References Anning, Angela. (1998). Appropriateness or effectiveness in the early childhood curriculum in the UK: Some research evidence. International Journal of Early Years Education, 6(3), 299-314. EJ 574 176. cited 11/11/2006 Barbara ruthPelyzman, (1998), Pioneers of early childhood Education A bibliographical Guide. Greenwood press. Available from < http://www.aim25.ac.uk/> Cited 11/11/2006 Bradbury. E. (1989). Margaret McMillan: Portrait of a Pioneer. Contributions to Education Columbia University, Teachers college. Berk, L, 1977, Child Development (4th ed), Boston: Allyn and Bacon Bee, H. 1989, The Developing Child (5th ed) N. Y: Harper and Row Bruce, Tina. (1987). Early childhood education. London: Hodder and Stoughton Blenkin, Geva M., & Kelly, A. V. (1994). Early childhood education: A developmental curriculum. London: Paul Chapman. Cleave, Shirley, & Jowett, Sandra. (1982). And so to school: A study of continuity from pre-school to infant school. Windsor, England: NFER-Nelson. Cox, Theo. (1996). The national curriculum in the early years: Challenges and opportunities. London: Falmer Press. Curtis, Audrey. (1998). A curriculum for the pre-school child. London: Routledge. Dr.Mathur. S. S. (1962) Educational Psychology, Vinod Pustak Mandir, Agra. Gordon, T. 1974: Teacher effectiveness Training, N.Y.: Wyden Hurst, Victoria. (1997). Planning for early learning: Educating young children. London: Paul Chapman. Mansbridge .A .H. (1932) Margaret McMillan. , J.M Dent Moon, Bob. (1994). A guide to the national curriculum. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Moss, Peter, & Penn, Helen. (1996). Transforming nursery education. London: Paul Chapman Piaget, J. 1952, The Language and Thought of a Child, (M. Grabain, Trans), New York: Humanities Press Reynolds et al., Long-term Effects of an Early Childhood Intervention on Educational Achievement, The journal of American Medical Association JAMA.2001; 285: 2339-2346. http://www.naeyc.org/resources/research/ Cited 11/11/006 Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED). (2001). OFSTED’s nursery education [Online]. London: Available: http://www.ofsted.gov.uk [2001, January 1]. Cited 21/11/06 Sylva, Kathy; Roy, Carloyn; & McIntyre, Grant. (1980). Child watching at playgroup and nursery school. London: Grant McIntyre. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Wmcmillan.htm, updated 18/08/2002 Cited 07/11/2006 Young-Ihm Kwon, Changing Curriculum for Early Childhood Education in England, Cambridge University, Fall 2002,Volume $, number 2.,Early childhood research and Practice http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v4n2/kwon.html cited 11/11/2006 Read More