Reconceptualising Early Childhood Education: A Critical Analysis

Running head: RECONCEPTUALISING EARLY CHILDHOOD
RECONCEPTUALISING EARLY CHILDHOOD
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1RECONCEPTUALISING EARLY CHILDHOOD
The year from birth till the age of 8 is considered as the early childhood education. The
span of these years is very crucial in an individual’s life. The early childhood education is the
study that includes the early years of children and the early years of compulsory education such
as pre-school and few years of schooling. First few years of child’s life is spent gaining the
‘sense of self’, after that the child is exposed to the world full of knowledge. A child is like a
blank page, after it gins the sense of self it moves towards perceiving the world in its own way.
However, the process is often guided by the adults who seem to consider themselves as the ‘life
experienced’. In this essay four theories are used to reflect upon own personal experience o past
history and future aspirations. The experience is precisely on the experience as a child and the
way the theories can explain the experiences.
Thinking about an incident that I understand through critical perspective is the incident
from school days. I was promoted to my senior class at the year-end. With the internet as one of
the blessings of the present generation, it has become easy to get information on anything and
everything one is interested in. I went through the syllabus for my coming year. Although I was
thrilled about the new learning, I also noticed that there were more exciting concepts and that
one could learn and that was not present in the syllabus. Though I understand that it was created
based on a general overview, I also felt that the faculties were not qualified in that parameters
where my interest was based. I started wondering why the syllabus lacked such exciting
concepts. It was merely due to the fact that the syllabus was created by the same faculties.
Therefore, our knowledge was limited within the boundary of our teacher’s knowledge.
This particular life experience can be explained by Paulo Freire’s ‘The Banking Concept
of Education’ where the student is seen as an empty bank and the teacher are the depositors. The
dialogue between teacher and student should be in a way that will promote critical thinking. The

2RECONCEPTUALISING EARLY CHILDHOOD
teachers make the deposits and the students receive patiently, memorize them and repeat. Also,
seeing from Jürgen Habermas’s notion of communication in teaching, it is explainable that
interaction between student and teacher is more of a schedule and pedagogical communication is
strategic. The students are imposed with goals and they become victim of manipulations.
Students fail to develop the critical thinking skills. In doing so, child losses many opportunities
to become creative which would have been possible if the people who consider them
knowledgeable in terms of students who know nothing would not impose perspective of viewing
the world on the students (Bentley and Yelland 2017).
The experience will push me to think critically of the education system in future. With
my capabilities and involvement of other co-workers i would try to come up with ideas that
would make children develop skills based on their free will, traits and interests. Since knowledge
is socially constructed therefore, it varies individual to individual.
An incident of critical analysing through the post-structural perspective is the incident
of high school days. One of the incidents I recall that I relate to Michel Foucault’s power and
knowledge is I had to write my English assignment in my high school class. I was strictly told to
follow the guidelines and make use of class notes. I have an elder brother who was a teacher,
used to help me in my studies. As it was one of the important assignments, I had started my
preparation little earlier to avoid any mistake. I did my research thoroughly, spent hours in the
library and even sought help from my elder brother to come up with extra insights that would
enhance my project. Surprisingly I did not receive good grades. When asked the teacher, he said
the assignment contained out of the context materials. I also asked if the out of the context
material was irrelevant however, I received no answer and only a failed grade. Seeing me crying