Principles of Teaching Theoretical Description

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CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter presents the literature review of the study. This chapter includes two main parts, namely theoretical description and theoretical framework.

A. Theoretical Description

This part elaborates five key points used in this study. They are principles of teaching, vocabulary, method, media, and teaching children in the pre-school ages.

1. Principles of Teaching

According to Gerlach Ely 1980: 49, one of the tasks as a teacher is to facilitate learning. Teachers are to establish conditions which make it probable that learning will occur within a period of time. Teaching cannot be defined apart from learning. Nathan Gage 1964: 269 as cited in Brown 1994: 7 noted that “to satisfy the practical demands of education, theories of learning must be stood on their head so as to yield theories of teaching.” Teaching is guiding and facilitating learning, enabling the learner to learn, setting the conditions for learning. Teachers’ understanding of how the learner learns will determine teachers’ philosophy of education, teachers’ teaching style, teachers’ approach, methods, and classroom methods. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 11 Teachers who teach pre-school students have the limitation of the curriculum because pre-school students are unique. The major element of developing pre- school students’ education is through playing. Albrecht and Miller 2000: 216-218 stated that the development of curriculum for pre-school students should give priority to the freedom of students’ creativity. According to Kitano and Kirby 1986: 27-167, curriculum for pre-school students is a plan to maximize the interaction of learning in order to have potential behavior. Curriculum should have major element in every stage of education which covers all the teaching-learning process. According to Catron and Allen 1999: 30, curriculum covers the answer of all the questions about what have to be taught to the students and how to teach them by using a planner program which based on the philosophy of children’ development and learning. The teachers can apply playing as one of the effective ways to be done in the curriculum, which will be used as the main level for children’ development. The creative curriculum is rooted in educational philosophy and theory as well as practice. “It builds on Erik Erikson’s stages of socio-emotional development, Jean Piaget’s theories of how children think and learn, on principles of physical development, and appreciation of cultural influences” Dodge, 1992: 5. During the early childhood years, children deal with three of eight stages of socio-emotional growth. They learn to trust others outside their families, to gain independence and self-control, and to take an initiative and assert themselves in socially acceptable ways. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 12 The creative curriculum shows teachers how to encourage positive responses to the three stages. The type of environment helps children develop a sense of trust and belonging. Children can feel safe and encouraged to explore not only materials but also their relationship with peers and adults. The environment encourages both autonomy and self-control. Children learn to handle their feeling in acceptable. When they are encourage to make decisions for themselves, children experience a sense of control over their lives. Competence and initiative are fostered in this type of environment. By setting clear, age-appropriate expectations for behavior and by letting children know what is expected of them, teachers can endanger success and minimize frustration. Children’s concern about doing things because they are encouraged to learn from their mistakes, to explore, and to take risks. Creative curriculum explains how children learn to think. “Children learn by doing. Through active involvement with their environment, children attempt to make sense of the world around them” Dodge, 1992: 7. They learn by observing what happens when they interact with materials and other people. They spontaneously engage in activities such as block building, house corner or dramatic play. They learn simple concepts and then used the concepts to grasp more complex ideas. “Children learn concrete and literal thinking. Young children view the world concretely, as they mature, their view changes” Dodge, 1992: 6. What they know at any given point will depend on the first-hand experiences they have PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 13 had. By interacting with indoor and outdoor physical environment and their social environment, children broaden their frame of reference. “Children learn from the environment.” The creative curriculum builds on Piaget’s theories of development of young children. Piaget believed that all children learn through active exploration of their environment” Dodge, 1992: 7. By grasping, rolling, pounding, smelling, sucking, and crawling around and over everything they come in cont act with. As children’s learning expands, the environment plays a critical role. The richer the environment, the more concrete opportunities there are for children to learn by interacting with materials and people. “The creative curriculum also explains how the children develop their physical, both gross and fine motor physical development. Physical development is taken for granted in early childhood education” Dodge, 1992: 9. Normally physical development relies on good health, proper nutrition, and safe environment. Proper nutrition is crucial to both mental and physical development. Proper nutrition comes from nutritious food. Dodge 1992: 271 stated that “cooking enables children give experience the world of food firsthand.” It means that the students are given an opportunity to experiment with the food, to be creative, and to prepare nutritional snacks. The students had experience how to prepare the ingredients, to stir and decorate the chocolate creatively. Moreover, cooking activity gave positive impact to the students. The students also learnt about science, developed physical skills and increased vocabularies. A safe environment is also a prerequisite for promoting physical development. Children PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 14 need indoor and outdoor space where they can try out all their newly acquired skills without danger of injury.

2. Vocabulary