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Porcelaingirl As the public increasingly views children as persons with rights, educators are implementing more child-centered approaches. Our discussion of the rights of children fits in nicely with the topic of child-centered education. Child-centered is a widely used term that is often misunderstood, leading to heated debates and misinterpretation of instructional practices. It will be helpful to keep these guiding principles about child-centered education in mind as you work with children, parents, and colleagues:
- All children have a right to an education that helps them grow and develop to their fullest; this basic premise is at the heart of our understanding of child-centered education. Therefore, daily interactions with children should be based on the fundamental question, Am I teaching and supporting all children in their growth and development across all domains—social, emotional, physical, linguistic, and intellectual? Such teaching is at the heart of developmentally appropriate practice.
- Every child is a unique and special individual. Consequently, we have to teach individual children and be respectful of and account for their individual uniqueness of age, gender, culture, temperament, and learning style.
- Children are active participants in their own education and development. This means that they should be mentally involved and physically active in learning what they need to know and do.
- Children’s ideas, preferences, learning styles, and interests are considered in the planning for and implementation of instructional practices.
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© ______ 2009, Merrill, an imprint of Pearson Education Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The reproduction, duplication, or distribution of this material by any means including but not limited to email and blogs is strictly prohibited without the explicit permission of the publisher.
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