Competency vs. Dependency
American teachers’ beliefs and curricula were traditionally built around the idea that young children depend on adults to know what is best for them (Hill, Stremmel, & Fu, 2005). Certainly the younger the child, the more adults need to be directly involved in his or her physical care for the sake of the child’s safety and well-being. But the extent to which children throughout the early childhood period are encouraged and allowed to direct their own learning and make intuitive decisions is changing. In particular, educators in the Reggio Emilia infant-toddler and preschool programs subscribe to a view of children as innately competent, strong, and powerful (Edwards, Gandini, & Forman, 1998). This alternate image of children focuses on what children can do rather than what they can’t. Adults are challenged to see children as having not needs but rights. Rather than focusing on what adults think children need, teacher educators are encouraged to focus on who they are as individuals, casting them as stakeholders in their own learning (Chaille, 2008). Going forward, you will see how this idea plays out to greater or lesser extent in planning and implementing curriculum.
