Educational Theories Related to Early Schooling Systems

Abstract

In an analytical approach, this chapter analyzes the educational paradigms and pedagogical premises of early education, which reinforce and support that the education and protection of early childhood favors individual development. The core of these approaches is the promotion and practice of a child-centered education, which contributes to healthy physical and mental development, and to the solid social and emotional development of the future adult. In this chapter, several dimensions outlined by the educational paradigms regarding early education will be analyzed, highlighting at the same time the open character of the approaches towards scientific research and later educational theories. The authors believe that some conceptual delineations regarding early education are useful, at least as a summary sequence to provide a basis for the arguments presented. The need for early intervention in child development has not been contested, but the support from some pedagogical theories completes the objectives assumed by educational policies.