Now I'm really getting into the swing of my last assignment and it's really exciting when one begins to understand deeply and put ideas together. It's just the same as pieces of a jigsaw falling into place and it's almost as exciting as when a poem comes together or a short story (I must try and get that feeling back soon).
Now there was this theorist called Lev Vygotsky and he had some thrilling ideas. He said that thought is internalised language. Children often provide a running commentary on what they are doing. This is called an external monologue and as time passes and the child develops this monologue becomes internalised. (Next time you are talking out loud to yourself remember this) So if a child's thought is dependent on language then it is of great importance to facilitate a rich linguistic environment. This is awesome stuff. Oh and he also said we have cultural tools, symbolic systems we use to analyse reality and they are signs, symbols, maps, plans, numbers, musical notation, charts, pictures and language. (Dolya, 2010) I think I'm floating in space.
But not to get carried away. I must stick to the question and ensure that I'm answering what I'm asked, what is my own philosophy and key influences to practice?
And then I still have to write about how constructions of childhood have changed through time. Did you kow that in Medieval times children were considered small adults? There's the industrial revolution and child labour, are children inherently evil (Judaeo-Christian Adam and Eve, and Wesley) or inherently good? (Rousseau and the Enlightenment, 18th c.) These are two discourses of childhood.
And in the end our attitudes to childhood are socially constructed. That is, we construct things that we try to make meaning of. (Roche & Tucker, 2001) I think that's maybe enough for tonight. I'll be up early in the morning and nearly there then, I hope!
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