Are You a Teacher or a Developmentalist?

11/03/2023

Are You a Teacher or a Developmentalist?

Do not keep children to their studies by compulsion but by play.
Plato, Greek philosopher, 427–347 BC

Early in the new book Whole Child Alphabet: How Children Actually Develop Literacy, author Stacy Benge writes:

"Although I work in the realm of early childhood education, I identify more as a developmentalist, focusing on human development across the lifespan in all domains. I believe the keys to early education include understanding the intricacies of child development, building relationships with the children presently in the setting, then designing the environment, interactions, and experiences around that. This is what will bring about the strong foundations that will support children in their future endeavors, not pushing a top-down agenda and introducing academics too soon. The mindset needs to be a matter of development, not a matter of teaching."

In a recent conversation with Benge on That Early Childhood Nerd, host Heather Bernt-Santy remarked on the passage,

“That's what I loved!...I've become so increasingly uncomfortable with calling it early childhood education over the last several years or calling myself a teacher. I used to really embrace it because I felt like, ‘no one respects what I'm doing so if I call myself a teacher I'll get that,’ but for me the more I think I see the field and policy going, whatever we can do to bring it back to the child is so important. If we're talking about the ‘teacher,’ I feel like I'm still really talking about myself and what I need in the classroom space or what I need from the children. When we're talking about being a developmentalist, it helps me really shift to think that it's about me understanding what's going on and then supporting. Will some learning come from that? Absolutely!”

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